


Orphan Brigade

by Kellisina



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Fake AH Crew, Other, Pre-Fake AH Crew
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2018-09-11
Packaged: 2018-09-19 05:10:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 105
Words: 45,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9420128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kellisina/pseuds/Kellisina
Summary: The story of how an infamous crime lord became the guardian of three children and a teenager.A seres of drabbles originally posted on tumblr.





	1. Orphan Brigade

Geoff wasn’t exactly sure how it had happened but somewhere along the line he had adopted himself a family. It hadn’t been intentional. He had always been content on his own, pulling two men heists with Jack whenever he needed the cash. Two men jobs were ideal as far as Geoff was concerned as there was far less risk involved with only two of them. It eliminated the chances that they would be double crossed or fall prey to an undercover cop. Over the years, Geoff had come to trust Jack. And he was more than happy with the way things were. 

The first addition to their little ‘family’ was a small British boy who had brazenly attempted to take Geoff’s wallet while he was out drinking. The lad would have gotten away with the theft if it weren’t for the fact that he had been talking to himself the entire time.

“Tease it.” The boy muttered under his breath as he inched the wallet out of Geoff’s back pocket. 

Geoff’s inked hand clamped down on the small wrist. “Not very artful, are you Dodger?” He asked, chuckling at his own wit. 

“Oi!” The boy squeaked, trying to pull his arm back. “Get your bloody paws off me!” 

Geoff laughed at the boys’ courage, reaching into his wallet. “I applaud your nerve kid.” He stated, passing the small Brit a twenty. “But you got to stop talking to yourself okay? You’re supposed to be stealthy when you pull that shit.” 

“Yeah, whatever.” The boy grabbed the money and fled in the opposite direction, leaving Geoff with an amusing story to tell Jack the next time they met up. 

About a week later, Geoff and Jack were walking to a bar which was a personal favourite of Geoff’s (mainly due to his fondness for the woman behind the bar). As they walked, Geoff spotted the would-be pick-pocketer sat alone on a park bench. With a grin on his face, Geoff pulled Jack over to the boy.

“How’s it going Dodger?” He asked with a sly grin. 

“My names not Dodger, idiot.” The boy replied with a hint of annoyance. 

“But it suits you so well.” Geoff crowed.

“Where’s your family kid?” Jack asked, concern lacing her voice. 

“Don’t got one.” The boy shrugged. 

“Friends? Guardians?” 

As the boy shook his head, Jack and Geoff shared a nervous glance. 

“Maybe we should call the little orphan Oliver instead.” Geoff suggested in an attempt to break the tension. 

“Dodger was an orphan too ya gimp.” The boy argued instantly. 

“The world is going to eat you alive kid.” Geoff sighed. “Come on then.” He said, dragging the boy to his feet. 

“Come where?” 

“My place. We’re going to get you fixed up.” 

“You better not be some kind of bloody pervert!” The boy snapped.

“Trust me, you’re not my type.” Geoff laughed. 

“What’s your name anyway?” Jack asked curiously, walking alongside Geoff. 

“Oh please tell me it’s Oliver.” Geoff’s eyes lit up. 

“It’s Gavin.” The boy huffed. 

“Equally ridiculous.” Geoff nodded, pulling the boy towards his apartment. He would have to see the lovely Griffon another night, right now he had more important matters to deal  
with. 

***  
It was Gavin who found the next member of their family. After a month of living in Geoff’s apartment, Gavin had come home one day hand in hand with a small boy with cuts and bruises down his arms, a black eye and a pair of broken glasses resting on his nose. 

“This is Micoo!” Gavin announced cheerfully, presenting his new friend to Geoff and Jack.

“Michael.” The boy corrected in an aggravated tone. 

“Micoo.” Gavin nodded, convinced that he was saying the exact same thing. 

“Can he come stay with us Geoff? Pleeeeease!” 

Jack moved forwards to inspect the boy. “What happened here?” She asked, gesturing to the bruises. 

“Some kids were making fun of me ‘cause I talk funny!” Gavin pouted. 

“Let me guess.” Geoff sighed; bring a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “You said something so incredibly dumb and got your sorry ass in trouble again.” 

“How did you know?” Gavin gasped. “Anyways, one guy was gonna hit me but then Micoo swooped in and saved me!” 

“Not like it was hard.” Michael shrugged. “Those guys were pussies.” 

“Can we keep him?” Gavin beamed, draping his arms over Michael’s shoulders. 

“He’s not a stray dog Gav.” Jack chastised as she fetched the first aid kit. 

“He’s sort of a stray.” Gavin justified with a pout. 

“Where’s your home kid?” 

“I don’t live there anymore.” Michael crossed his arms defiantly. 

“Ah, so we have a runaway. What made you leave?” 

“I didn’t want to be hit anymore.” Michael stated, not meeting the adults in the eye. 

“Looks like you’d rather do the hitting yourself, huh?” Jack commented as she bandaged the worst of the cuts. 

Michael nodded silently. 

Geoff sighed. “I guess one more orphan wouldn’t hurt.” 

Gavin’s face lit up and he grabbed Michael’s hand. “You can stay in my room!” He exclaimed excitedly, dragging the curly haired boy away. 

“You’re a real softy, aren’t you?” Jack chuckled. 

“What else was I supposed to do?!” Geoff argued. “Kids need a place to stay.” 

“Mhmm.” Jack chuckled. “I’m out. Have fun with the boys.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Geoff huffed, ushering Jack out of the apartment.

***  
Geoff soon found that as much as he loved his two man team system, they needed to expand. He and Jack weren’t exactly technologically minded. They needed someone who could break into security systems without leaving a trace. Some of Jack’s contacts pointed him towards a hacker known only as ‘the Mad King’. After a number of successful heists, Geoff decided that it was about time he met the King in person. So he left his boys with Jack and set off to the rendezvous point.  
Geoff was surprised to find that his prized hacker was only a high school student. On a whim, he invited the infamous Ryan back to his apartment for dinner. He found that his boys instantly latched onto the ‘King’, who spent most of the evening showing them how to illegally download games onto Geoff’s computer. Geoff didn’t mind, his boys were happy so he was too. 

After persistent begging from both Gavin and Michael, Ryan was invited back to the apartment so often that he soon became a permanent fixture. Geoff figured that the teen’s parents must be pretty checked out if they didn’t notice that their son was spending all of his time at a criminals’ apartment. So he didn’t mind giving the boy a second home, he clearly needed one. Besides, it meant that he could use Ryan both for heists and for babysitting.

***  
Ray was the last edition to their little family. Knowing about Geoff’s soft spot for little orphans, Ryan brought him to the apartment one day and left him in Gavin and Michael’s room as an experiment to see how long it would take Geoff to notice.

It took him a week. 

Geoff watched curiously as Ray sat at the window, staring out at the city. He was a quiet child, who wouldn’t offer a great deal of conversation unless prompted. That is, until Michael and Gavin dragged him away to play with them. Then he would become just as lively as the other boys, yelling at the top of his voice as he was chased around the apartment. 

“He’s a cute kid.” Geoff commented, sipping his coffee. “What’s his story?” 

“He’s been living on the streets for a while.” Ryan explained. “He has no idea how he got there. No memory of anything earlier than a month ago. I checked the police databases, there’s no-one out there searching for him.” 

“Do I want to know how you got into their databases?” Geoff asked. 

“Nope.” 

“Alright then.” He nodded.  
***

His boys were all grown up now and Geoff had taught them well. They weren’t just a family; they were the notorious Fake AH Crew. As much as he had to prefer two man teams in the past, Geoff had to admit that the larger team was far superior. He knew that he could always trust his boys to have his back.


	2. We Don't Need No Education

After Jacks insistence that the boys needed some kind of formal education, Geoff took it upon himself to get his lads into a school (despite the boy’s complaints on the matter). Ryan forged birth certificates for the trio, all of which claimed that Geoff was the biological father. The certificates stated that the boys had different mothers to accommodate for the different skin tones and Gavin being so obviously British, this made the boys fake half-brothers. Geoff inspected the forged documents with a fond smile. As far as anyone knew, the boys were officially his sons. 

The school made the poor choice of putting the three boys in the same class, figuring that they would cope with the new environment better if they were together. Geoff just laughed as their new teacher explained this to him.

“Yeah, good luck with that.” He waved, leaving the school to wait for what would be the first of many calls home about the boys’ disruptive behaviour. 

Gavin had a bad habit of getting himself into trouble while having absolutely no idea what he had done to cause offence. Luckily Michael was always on hand to protect his fake siblings. The first time the boys had heard someone bully Ray for his brown skin, Michael had broken the boys arm in a rage. Geoff pretended to be apologetic to the school and the boys’ parents, but when they returned home, he rewarded his little warrior for standing up for Ray. 

The lads quickly gained a reputation for themselves at the school and as a result few students ever had the courage to approach them, which suited the boy’s just fine. They would much rather spend time with each other. They spent their breaks in the playground; Gavin and Ray pretending to be superheroes while Michael pretended to be the ferocious warrior Mogar. 

After school, the lads would be picked up by Ryan who had explained to his mother that he had a babysitting job. (Technically he wasn’t lying.) In a move which had both surprised and touched Geoff, Ryan had used part of his cut from their latest heist to buy an xbox which he kept at Geoff’s apartment. Ryan claimed that he kept it there for practicalities sake: so that his mother wouldn’t find out how much his money he had, plus he spent most of his time at Geoff’s place anyway so it only made sense that he kept it there. But Geoff knew better, he knew that the decision was more motivated by the gleam in the lad’s eyes whenever Ryan talked about games. Gavin had repaid the gesture by going to the nearest toy store and stealing a cow plushie for Ryan, which was promptly dubbed Edgar. Ray repaid him by beating his gamer score in the space of a week. 

While the boys waited for Geoff and Jack to come home from whatever it was that they did during the day, the boys would play under the care of Ryan who, despite being mad, was a firm but fair king.

As soon as Geoff got home, the boy’s real education would begin. He had started by teaching the boys how to successfully pick-pocket. Gavin knew most of the basics, but it took longer than expected to break him out of the habit of talking to himself while he concentrated. Geoff had been incredibly impressed when the boys came home from school the next day, each with a different teacher’s wallet in their hands. His lads definitely had a knack for petty theft. He decided that he would have to up their training and see what the boys were really capable of.


	3. The Origins of X-Ray

It took them almost a week to notice that Ray couldn’t actually see anything. Without his memory, Ray had no idea what the world looked like when it was in focus, he simply assumed that everyone saw the same way that he did. They hadn’t realised that the boy was practically blind until Ryan had bought their new x-box and Ray had to input his name to make his profile.

“Okay, now you just have to press the ‘R’.” Ryan explained, sat next to him on the couch. 

“There are letters on the screen?!” Ray asked with a bemused expression. 

“….Well, yeah. Why? What do you see?” Ryan asked curiously.

“Just… white. With black edges.” Ray tried to explain, gesturing to the screen. 

Ryan stared at the boy for a moment with a blank expression before leaning back on the couch. “Hey Geoff!” He called. 

“Yeah?” Geoff replied from his room where he was busy planning their next heist. 

“You know that Ray’s pretty much blind, yeah?” 

“….Shit.” Was the simple reply. 

*** 

The trip to the shopping centre was guaranteed to be a hectic one which is why Geoff claimed that he had incredibly important work to do and left Jack with the task of taking the boys out. A trip with three young children would never run smoothly. A trip with boys as energetic and disruptive as the lads was doomed to be a disaster.   
Jack headed to the opticians with Michael, Gavin and Ray in tow, mourning the fact that Ryan was in school and wasn’t free to babysit the other two while he attended Rays appointment, but c'est la vie. 

They had developed a system to stop Gavin from getting lost as he had a habit of wandering when he was distracted. Gavin was flanked on either side by Michael and Ray who would each keep a secure grip on one of Gavin’s hands. The young Brit didn’t mind the measures at all and would swing his arms cheerfully as they walked. 

The boys seemed pretty calm as they walked in, until Jack took her eyes off them to check in at the reception desk. 

“Ray, are you going to get glasses like Micoo?” Gavin asked.

“Maybe?” Ray responded thoughtfully, looking around anxiously.

“Aw, I want glasses too.” Gavin pouted. 

“They suck ass.” Michael shrugged in response. 

“Maybe you could get super cool ones!” Gavin suggested undeterred. “Like x-ray glasses! Get it? x-Ray?” 

“Sweet!” Ray gasped. 

“You could be a proper superhero with glasses like that!” Michael commented excitedly. 

The next thing Jack knew, the boys were running wild, chasing each other and jumping off any surface which they could climb upon. 

“Parkour!” Ray yelled as he jumped onto an unsuspecting woman’s’ lap.

“Sorry Love!” Gavin ran towards her, pulling Ray away. “He’s blind, ya see?” 

“Ray doesn’t.” Michael joked with a grin.

“Boys.” Jack sighed. “Look, here.” He pulled out the boys DS’s sitting Michael and Gavin down while he passed Ray over to the experts. 

***  
When Ray returned wearing his new glasses, Gavin bounded over excitedly. “Ray! What do I look like in HD?” 

“…Your nose is enormous.” Ray replied with a baffled expression. 

Michael burst into laughter. “Jesus Christ.”

“Yeah?!” Gavin spluttered, desperately trying to come up with a comeback. “Well you… have… glasses, ya four eyes.” 

“Sweet burn.” Ray nodded with a serious expression. 

“Hey, there’s two of us with glasses and only one of you.” Michael explained. “You’re the odd one.”

“ …. Bugger.”

Jack just laughed, leading the boys out of the shopping centre. “Come on kids, time to go home.”


	4. Bump In The Night

More often than not, Michael would have nightmares. 

The first time it happened Gavin had panicked, climbing down from his bed and racing to the living room where Jack and Geoff were watching a film together. 

“I think Micoo’s hurt!” He told the adults with tears in his eyes. 

“What happened?” Jack asked, jumping to his feet.

“I don’t know.” Gavin cried, wiping his eyes. “He sounds hurt.”

“You wait here buddy. We’ll go check on him.” Geoff patted Gavin’s head and followed Jack into the boys’ room. 

After about five minutes Geoff came back out, picked Gavin up and sat the little Brit on his lap. 

“Is Micoo okay?” Gavin asked, cuddling in. In the short time that Geoff had known the boys, he had noticed that Gavin was certainly the most affectionate. 

“He’s just fine Gav.” Geoff reassured him. “It was just a nightmare.” 

“A nightmare?” Gavin gasped. “About Freddy?!” 

“I’m pretty sure I told you guys not to play that dumb game.” Geoff chastised before sighing. “It wasn’t about Five Night’s at Freddy’s. It was about his parents.”

“But you and Jack are his parents.” Gavin protested. “Why would he have nightmares about you?”

Geoff froze for a moment, stunned by the statement. He quickly regained his composure, looking down at Gavin fondly. “Well, we are now. But he had pretty shitty ones before us.   
Sometimes he remembers them and gets bad dreams because of what he remembers.” 

“Oh…” Gavin frowned. “I’m going to go check on Micoo now.” He declared, climbing down off Geoff’s lap and dashing into the room which he shared with Michael and Ray. 

***

The night next, Geoff waited until he was sure that the boys were asleep and snuck into their room to check on Michael. There was only one spare room available when Geoff had   
first picked up Gavin, so the boys all shared the one room. Gavin and Michael shared a bunk bed (Gavin had instantly claimed the top bunk when he found out) and Ray slept on a bed on the opposite side of the room. 

When Geoff walked in he was surprised to find that only one of the beds was occupied. Michael lay in the centre, curled up into a small ball and mumbling to himself every now and then as he slept. To either side of him was Gavin and Ray. Gavin was curled into Michael, acting as the ‘big spoon’ with his mouth hanging open giving him a rather dopey expression. Ray lay on the other side of Michael, his head resting on Michaels arm. 

Geoff pulled out his phone and took a quick photo to send to Jack. He then left the room, carefully closing the door behind him, content that Michael was safe from the horrors of his dreams.


	5. Knock Me Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Guns, violence and blood.

The entire class was in an uproar as the black helicopter zoomed past, almost crashing into the building opposite. It was swiftly followed by two police helicopters. The sirens from the police cars below could he heard from the class-room and all students bar three raced to the window to get a glimpse of the action. 

Michael leaned over Gavin’s shoulder, whispering so that they wouldn’t be overheard. “Think it’s Geoff and Jack?” 

“No doubt.” Ray nodded, glancing out of the window. 

Michael sighed. “They get in trouble way more than we do.” 

“That’s cause they’re adults ya dope.” Gavin commented. “The police can’t arrest us, so we don’t get in as much trouble.” 

Ray looked back over, arching one eyebrow. “Course they can arrest us.” 

“They can?!” Gavin’s eyes went wide. “Bugger…”

“Yeah, you’re lucky your sorry ass didn’t get caught.” Michael laughed. “Hey Teach’!” He called to get the attention of the woman who was also watching the high speed chase  
from the window. “You know if they start shooting, y’all dumbasses at the window are going to get hit right?” 

The teacher gasped dramatically, pulling the children back and hiding them under their desks. 

“Could we really get hit?” Gavin asked in a panicked tone, scrambling under Michael’s desk to hide with him.

“Course not.” Michael reassured him. “I just wanted to see what she’d do.” 

“Geoff wouldn’t shoot like that near a school.” Ray explained, sat cross-legged under his desk, eyes fixed on the DS in his hands. “’Specially not one that we’re in.” 

Michael confirmed with a confident nod of his head and Gavin sighed in relief, leaning against Michael happily. 

***  
The elevator doors opened and Ryan stepped out into the hallway with the three lads. He immediately ushered the boys behind him as he spotted the spots of blood which stained the door of Geoff’s apartment. Ryan carefully pulled out his gun from the secret compartment which he had sewn into his jacket. He had never used it but in his line of work, it was better safe than sorry. 

He shushed the boys and carefully inched the door of the apartment open. With a tight grip on his gun, Ryan did a quick sweep of the apartment, sighing in relief when he found Geoff sat on the couch with his back to the boys. 

“Hi Geoff!” Gavin called excitedly. “We saw your helicopter from school!” 

Ryan carefully lowered his gun, put the safety on and replaced it in his jacket. 

They circled around to look at Geoff, finding him lying back with his hand clamped down on his arm which was bleeding freely. 

“Fuck…” Michael muttered. 

“…Michael, get me a towel. Ray, go clean off the blood from the door, we don’t want police in here. And Gavin, go get me a glass of water, okay?” When the boys didn’t move, Ryan made a noise of irritation. “Go!” He called and the boys all jumped into action. 

“What happened?” Ryan asked.

“What do you thing happened? Fucking cops shot me.” 

“Where’s Jack? Is she alright?” 

“She’s finishing the job. Sent me back to get cleaned up.” Geoff explained, wincing in pain. “Mother-fuckers wrecked my favourite suit.” He pouted. 

“That’s the least of your problems.” Ryan shook his head, taking the towel from Michael and pressing it against the wound in Geoff’s arm. “Looks like you just got grazed which is  
good. No bullet to yank out.” 

“Must be my lucky day.” Geoff commented through gritted teeth. 

“Door’s clean.” Ray announced, coming back through and sitting down on the armchair opposite Geoff, his leg pulled up to his chest. 

“Thanks Ray.” Ryan offered the boy a smile. 

“You guys look after Geoff while I get some bandages okay?” 

Michael nodded, climbing into the chair next to Ray. 

“You gonna be okay Geoff?” Gavin asked sadly, passing him a glad of water. 

“Yeah kid.” Geoff nodded, gulping down the water. “You know what they say.” He winked as he started to sing. “I get knocked down but I get up again, you’re never going to keep  
me down.” 

When Ryan returned to the living room, he found Geoff and the boys having a sing along, swaying along to the music happily. Ryan had to admit that it probably wasn’t the best reaction to the situation, but at least the kids weren’t scared. The last thing the boys needed was to feel unsafe in their new home.


	6. It's All Fun And Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Mention of guns

Geoff had always been told that when you play games with children, you should always let them win. He believed in that principle to a certain extent and decided to let the boys win most of the time but would still win every now and then, just to prove his dominance. That was easy enough with Gavin, the boy never noticed that he was being allowed to win and was just happy to be playing the game. With Michael, Geoff liked to make it a bit more challenging but he had to be careful. If it was too much of a challenge, then Michael would get upset and throw his controller down in a rage. 

Ray was a different story. No matter how hard Geoff tried he just couldn’t beat the boy. Now that he had his glasses, Rays’ hand and eye coordination was perfect and his reflexes were practically flawless. Geoff was certainly impressed, wondering if Ray would be as talented with a gun as he was with a controller. In the meantime, he would have to ask Ryan to alter the games to make it easier for him to beat Ray every once in a while, just to make him feel better about himself.


	7. Go!

“Okay, so here’s the deal.” Geoff started to explain, stood in front of the board with a commanding air. “I’m going to give you a task to do and the first one who does whatever it is wins.”

"What do we win?” Gavin asked from his position of the couch, sandwiched between Michael and Ray.

“I’m glad you asked.” Geoff grinned. “If you win you will get not only fame and glory, you will also win yourself a sticker, which will be placed upon the new board which I have lovingly decorated. If you get five stickers, then you get a prize.” 

“What sort of prize?” Michael asked, his curiosity piqued. 

“A sur-prize!” Geoff laughed.

“I don’t get it…” Gavin muttered to himself.

“That’s because you don’t speak English.” Geoff explained. 

“But he is English.” Michael responded, baffled.

“Yeah, but he doesn’t speak it. He just makes shit up, therefore; he speaks Gavin.”

“Makes sense.” Ray nodded in agreement. 

“Alright then! First one to tidy up all their games away gets a sticker. Ready?” He waited a moment for dramatic effect. “Go!” 

Gavin scrambled off the couch, crashing into the coffee table as he tripped over his own feet.

“We gotta work on your coordination.” Geoff sighed. 

“No time Geoff!” Gavin yelled as he raced into the boys’ bedroom.

Michael and Ray followed at a much slower pace while Geoff sat on the couch with his feet up on the coffee table, applauding himself for the brilliant idea of making chores   
competitive

***

About five minutes later, Ray wandered out of their room, sitting next to Geoff on the couch.

“Hey Ray, you not playing?”

“I’m done.” Ray shrugged.

“You are?” Geoff asked in surprise. 

“Yeah? Not like it was hard. Gavin started playing with one of his games and Michael just made more of a mess.” He explained simply. 

Geoff sighed but looked at Ray with a smile. “Looks like you just won your first sticker.”

“Oh. The excitement.” Ray responded, completely deadpan. 

“You’re more sarcastic than Ryan, you little shit.” Geoff laughed, picking Ray up so he could adorn the score board with a Waluigi sticker.


	8. Sunday Driving

Sunday was Geoff’s favourite day of the week. It had become a tradition that, rain or shine, he and his boys would go out for a drive around the city each Sunday. He would pile the boys into the back seat then go to pick up Jack or Ryan (whichever was free at the time). They never had a plan for these outings, it was far more interesting to drive and see where they ended up. 

One Sunday, Gavin had pointed to Mount Chiliad eagerly telling Geoff that they should try to climb it. Seeing no reason why they shouldn’t attempt it, Geoff swiftly turned the car around (causing a number of crashes which he deafly ignored) and headed towards the mountain. 

Jack was away for the weekend visiting family, so the passenger seat was occupied by Ryan, who seemed rather relieved that he didn’t have to share the back seat with the lads. 

As they began the ascent up the mountain, Geoff turned the radio on and the boys immediately begun to sing.

“I’m surprised they know these songs.” Ryan commented as they warbled their way through Allstar by Smash Mouth. “It’s a bit before their time.” 

“I teach my boys well.” Geoff stated proudly. 

“Seems like they don’t really know the lyrics though.” Ryan chuckled as she head Gavin sing “somebody one told me the world is gonna blow me” followed by Ray singing “I aint the sharpest tool in the ted.” 

“Eh, close enough.” Geoff shrugged with a happy laugh. 

“You know there’s a path that leads up the mountain, right?” Ryan asked, clinging onto his sear as the car bumped over the rocky terrain. 

“This ways more fun. More of an adventure.” Geoff explained with a knowing nod.

“I can see the headlines now. Teen and three children killed in crash at Chiliad. Reckless driver responds: ‘It was more fun that way’.” Ryan responded dryly.

“You’re a pessimistic son of a bitch, you know that?” 

“Oh, I know.” 

“I still don’t know you that well… We should use this precious time to get to know each other!” Geoff suggested eagerly.

“Lord.” Ryan moaned, shaking his head.

“Lighten up. Hey boys! What do you want to know about Ryan?” 

“Ryan…” Gavin started thoughtfully. “If I paid you a hundred pounds-”

“Dollars.” Geoff corrected automatically.

“A hundred dollars. Would you eat a sandwich made of boogers?” 

“What does that have to do with anything?” Ryan asked, thoroughly confused. 

“Just answer the question!” Michael piped up from the back.

“Yeah Ry’! Enquiring minds want to know!” Gavin nodded in agreement. 

Ryan paused for a moment then simply laughed. “So how does this work? Do you have a hundred bucks on you right now to pay me with?” 

“It’s a hypo-medical question Ry’!” Gavin sighed dramatically.

“Hypothetical? Let’s see… you know, I don’t think I would. There are much easier ways for me to earn a hundred dollars.” 

“Oh, I see…” Gavin nodded sagely as Geoff reached the mountains peak. 

“Hey! Can I drive Geoff?” Michael asked curiously. 

“Maybe when we’re at the bottom of the mountain buddy.” 

“You’re really going to let a kid drive?” Ryan asked. 

“Don’t see why not.” Geoff shrugged. “Why? You want a go?” 

“….Yes.” Ryan nodded.

“Driving lessons all around then.” Geoff declared. “But first, buckle up. We’re going down.” He grinned, lining the car up at the edge of a cliff and slowly driving off.


	9. Griffon Meets The Lads

Geoff loved his boys. He really did. But he had to admit that there were times when they put a crimp in his style. 

He had no idea how he was going to explain the situation to Griffon. They had been dating on and off for a few years and were finally starting to get serious about their relationship. Geoff figured that adopting a child was something that you should probably tell your girlfriend in advance. And he had three of the little buggers. Four if you counted Ryan who seemed to live with them on a part time basis. Geoff hadn’t thought to warn her at the time, and now he was doomed. 

Figuring that there was no easy way to break the news to her, Geoff invited Griffon over to his apartment, thinking that she was more likely to believe that he wasn’t joking if she saw the boys in person. 

As he waited for Griffons arrival, Geoff busied himself tiding the apartment and making sure that they had enough alcohol- he had a feeling that they were going to need it. 

“Michael, get your paws off my beer!” He chastised as he dumped an armful of lego bricks into a storage box. 

“Come on Geoff! Just one?” Michael pleaded with a pout. 

“Not until you’re older buddy.” 

“You suck.” Michael sighed, flopping onto the couch dramatically. 

Geoff merely laughed. “If you guys don’t fuck things up for me, maybe you can have a sip after. But don’t tell Griffon okay? If I’m going to be a dad then I might as well look like a   
good one.” 

“I think you’re a great dad Geoff.” Gavin nodded sagely, taking out the legos that Geoff had just tidied away and started on building a large cube (he wasn’t exactly inventive when   
it came to lego, but at least he enjoyed it). 

“Suck up.” Michael muttered under his breath. 

“Thanks Gav.” Geoff laughed, musing over how, despite the fact that they hadn’t known each other for very long, the boys already acted like brothers. 

“Where’s Ray?” 

“I’ll go get him.” Michael jumped down from the couch, ‘accidentally’ knocking over Gavin’s lego creation as he went. 

“Micoo!” Gavin pouted and then chuckled as he watched Michael laugh. 

Geoff shook his head as he watched the exchange, he would definitely have to keep an eye on Gavin to make sure that people weren’t walking all over him. Although if the school reports were anything to go by, Michael was all the protection that Gavin needed. 

By the time Griffon was due to arrive Geoff was a nervous wreck, much to the amusement of the lads. The doorbell finally tang and Gavin raced to the door, pulling it open before Geoff could reach it. 

Griffon stood in silence for a moment, looking from Gavin to Geoff, then back down at Gavin. “Well hello there little man.” 

“Hi! I’m Gavin!” The boy grinned enthusiastically. “And that’s Micoo-“ 

“Michael.” Michael interrupted, wanting to ensure that no-one else would pronounce his name the way Gavin did.

“- And that’s Ray.” Gavin continued undeterred, pointing at the boy who was sat on the couch with his eyes glued to his DS. 

“I see.” Griffon commented, walking into the apartment. “You got yourself a pack of cub scouts, huh?” she asked Geoff with an amused expression. 

“It’s… a bit more complicated than that.” Geoff admitted. 

Geoff sat Griffon down and told her the whole story of how he ended up adopting the boys- with the lads chiming in occasionally when they thought that Geoff wasn’t telling it right. Griffon sat in silence for a minute, coming to terms with the new information. 

“You realise that this is crazy right?” 

“Oh yeah.” Geoff nodded. 

“And if the police found out what you did then you’re going to jail for kidnapping and god knows what else?” 

“Yeah. I’m pretty much fucked.” 

Griffon sighed, shaking her head. 

“Are we cool?” Geoff asked tentatively. 

“… I suppose it is a sweet thing for you to do. Protecting the kids like that.” Griffon admitted. 

“Yeah, I don’t want to brag, but I’m pretty much a hero.” He preened. 

Griffon laughed. “I wouldn’t go that far.” 

“Let me be a hero dammit.” 

“You’re a momma-bear at best.” Griffon teased with a fond chuckle. 

“No way. Jack is the momma-bear!” Geoff protested. 

“I’m sure the two of you will be very happy together, raising your little family.” 

“You know what I mean.” Geoff rolled his eyes. 

Michael leaned over to whisper to Gavin. “I like her.” He grinned, amused by the interaction between the two adults. As Geoff and Griffon talked, Michael took his chance and   
snuck forward, swiping a half-drunk bottle of beer from the table. He took a satisfying swing and then passed the bottle over to Gavin who followed suit then passed the bottle to Ray. 

Ray took a tentative sip which he immediately spat out. “Ugh!” He wrinkled him nose in disgust and passed the bottle back to Michael who was too busy laughing to notice that Geoff and Griffon staring at them. 

“Pretty sure I taught you guys to be sneakier than that.” Geoff chastised. “But it’s nice that you guys are sharing.” 

“Are we sure that that one isn’t biologically yours?” Griffon asked, gesturing towards Michael. 

“Actually, he’s the only one that we can find parents for, so he’s definitely not mine. They’re all mine now though, so it doesn’t matter.” 

“You really are a lil’ sweetheart huh?” Griffon grinned.

Geoff groaned, burying his head into his hands. “Why does everyone keep saying that?”


	10. Lads In Distress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Guns, violence, murder, kidnapping, fire

The boys were all around the age of ten the first time they were kidnapped.

They had been taken by a mob boss who wanted to teach Geoff a lesson. Gavin was scared, Ray was apathetic and Michael…? 

Michael was pissed. 

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” He snarled as he struggled against the ropes which bound his wrists together. “Do you know who we are? Geoff and Jack are going to find us. And they’re going to fucking kill you.” He spat at the man unfortunate enough to be guarding the three lads. 

The guard quickly reached the end of his patience. Fed up with the young boys ravings, he reached out to slap Michael across the face with an unnecessary amount of force. 

“Micoo…” Gavin whimpered. 

“I’m fine Gav.” Michael assured him, spitting out the blood which had pooled in his mouth. “I really hope Geoff kills this one first though. 

While Michael had distracted their guard, Ray had managed to slide his bound hands into the pocket of his hoodie to extract the pen knife which he used to weaken the ropes to the point where he could use his phone. Keeping his hands behind his back so that he would still appear to be a captive, Ray silently texted Geoff, telling him exactly where they were. He wasn’t sure if he was hitting any of the right buttons, but at least Geoff would know that they were okay. 

***

“7 Eddies away.” Ryan read with an arched eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“No fucking clue.” Geoff growled with an air of frustration. “I don’t hear from the little pricks in two days and his is the first thing I get from them?” 

“Ray mustn’t have been able to use his phone properly.” Jack stated, musing over the cryptic message. “Lines up with our theory that they’ve been taken by someone.” 

“At least now we know they’re alive?” Ryan suggested optimistically. 

“No.” Geoff sighed. “All we know for sure is that someone has Rays’ phone. He might not be the one who sent whatever the hell this is supposed to be.” 

“Let me see that again.” Ryan took the phone from Geoff and copied Rays’ message onto the back of his hand. “I’ll see what I can do.” He nodded, taking his laptop and moving to   
the lads’ room for privacy. 

Jack looked across at Geoff who was clenching his fists angrily. “We’re going to make them pay for this.” She assured him.

Geoff glowered in response. “Damn straight we are.” 

***

The lads had developed their own code over the years, almost like a secret language. They had learnt early on how to get around the watchful eyes of Geoff and Jack and had developed ways to communicate their plans with each other, even when the adults were in the room. So when Ray said “It’s a shame Vav isn’t here.” Gavin knew that Ray needed them to cause a distraction. 

The Brit immediately doubled over, complaining very loudly of a stomach ache. 

“What’s wrong with that one?” The guard asked with a disgruntled expression. 

“He’s super ill.” Michael informed him, faking a concerned expression when he looked over at Gavin. “Weak British tummy and all that, you know? He might barf actually.” 

As the guard knelt down in front of Gavin to examine his condition (his boss would kill him if anything happened to their hostages), Ray finished freeing his hands and quickly   
moved to cut the ropes around Michaels wrist. As the guard stood, the two boys quickly moved back so that the man wouldn’t notice any difference. They tried not to laugh as   
Gavin made a fantastically well-rehearsed variety of gagging noises. 

“You should really get him a doctor or something.” Ray stated, keeping his voice calm and casual. 

“My job is to stay here and guard the three of you.”

“And how’s that gonna work out for you when Gavin pukes all over the floor?” Michael questioned. “You gonna clean it up or just learn to live with the smell? You might as well go   
get him a medic. It’s not like we’re going to go anywhere. We’re just three little kids man! With our hands tied up! What are we going to do? There’s like an army of gangsters out there. We’re not dumb. We’ll stay here where we’re safe.” 

“…Don’t move a muscle.” The guard warned, dashing out of the room and leaving the door wide open in his haste. 

“Dumb fuck.” Michael laughed triumphantly as he stood. “Let’s go!” He grabbed Gavin and started to run. 

“Untie me!” Gavin yelped as he was dragged away, 

“No time.” Ray informed him as they ran through the deserted corridor into the unknown.

***

“Edwood Way!” Ryan exclaimed as he emerged from the lads’ room.

“Excuse me?” Geoff arched an eyebrow as he looked up. 

“Number seven, Edwood Way.” Ryan stated. “That’s where the boys are!” 

“You’re certain?” Jack asked anxiously.

“Yeah! Ray must have gotten screwed over by autocorrect. Edwood became Eddie. That address is supposed to be where the Silvio mafia have their new safe house. They must be   
the ones who have the boys.” 

“Let’s go.” Geoff stated, grabbing a many guns as he could carry and leading the way out of the apartment.

***

“Really Geoff?” Ryan questioned as they approached the vehicle. “A monster truck?” 

“Shut up.” Geoff pouted, climbing into the driver’s seat. “I thought it would be cool for Sunday driving.” 

“Yeah. This is great.” Ryan stated dryly. “Super discreet. I’m sure the mobsters will never see us coming.” 

***

It didn’t take long for Gavin to get captured again. Michael had to admit, they probably should have stopped to untie the boys hands. A mass of muscled mobster held the gangly boy in one arm, holding a knife to his throat with the other. 

What the man didn’t know was that the trio had already knocked out two of his colleagues and were now armed with pistols. When Michael saw blood start to drip from Gavin’s neck, he had no hesitation in pulling the gun out and shooting the man’s leg. As their attacker collapsed to the ground, Ray caught Gavin and used his pen knife to remove the rope. 

“It’s about bloody time.” Gavin huffed. 

Michael looked down at the man who was screaming in pain, clinging to his injured leg. Knowing that anymore noise would alert the other mobsters to their location, Michael   
acted fast, pulling off his jacket and using it as a gag to silence the man. 

“Gav. Take his weapons.” Michael instructed. “We’re going to need them.” 

***

Geoff got lost a grand total of three times on the way to the boys. Each time he blamed the navigation system in his truck, but Jack knew that it was really down to nerves. It was hard to focus on the road ahead of them when imagining what was happening to their boys. 

After what seemed like an eternity, they arrived at 7 Edwood Way to find the building in flames and Gavin, Michael and Ray stood on the sidewalk as though they were waiting to be picked up from school. 

Geoff very haphazardly parked the truck and leapt out to meet his dishevelled boys. Half of Michaels face had turned a dark purple colour where it had been bruised; this   
discolouration was coupled with a black eye and blood dripping from his mouth. Gavin had a bloody bandage tied around his neck and bruised in the shape of fingerprints all   
over his arms. Ray’s clothing was slightly singed from the fire and there was a thin gash on his shoulder which was freely dripping with blood. All three boys had rope burns and dark bruises across their wrists from where they had been bound. 

Geoff resolved to kill anyone who had hurt his babies, but as he looked up at the inferno he realized that the opportunity had most likely been robbed from him. So instead he   
grabbed the three boys, pulling them into a tight hug before ushering them into the monster truck and driving away before the cops showed up. 

Jack quickly passed a first aid kit to the back seat so that Ryan could bandage the boys up while they drove. 

“Anyone want to tell me what the fuck happened back there?” Geoff asked, struggling to keep his eyes on the road. 

“We got kidnapped.” Ray stated simply as Ryan wrapped a bandage around his wounded shoulder. 

“It was bad…” Gavin assed with a small nod, wincing as the action hurt his throat. 

“But we kicked ass!” Michael beamed through what appeared to be broken teeth. 

“…Good.” Geoff responded, feeling an odd mixture of worry and pride. “Let get you guys home.”

***  
Geoff may have been content with the chaos which the boys had inflicted on the Silvio family, but Ryan certainly wasn’t. He managed to acquire a list of all of the members of the   
criminal family and check of all of those who had died at the hands of the boy’s fire. This left the members who had been hospitalized and those who had been away during the kidnapping. Ryan planned on showing no mercy to either. He pulled on his mask and walked out of the door, intent on showing the world exactly what happened when they hurt a member of the Fake AH crew.


	11. Brown Party

When Ryan had created fake birth certificates to make the boys Geoff’s ‘legal’ children, the hardest to accomplish had been Rays. With no information about Ray’s date of birth, he had merely guessed that Ray was a year younger than Gavin as he was the smallest of the three boys. When it came to filling out Ray’s birth date, Ryan had printed off a calendar and told Ray to point at any date he wanted, as it seemed fairer to let the boy decide his own birthday. Ray quickly glanced at the calendar before looking up at Ryan and saying 

“Today.”

“Today?” Ryan repeated with a bemused expression.

“Today.” Ray nodded in confirmation before returning his attention to his game in his hands.

Ryan paused for a moment before finding Geoff, informing him that Ray had decided when he wanted his birthday to be.

“….Son of a bitch is testing us!” Geoff proclaimed, already heading out of the apartment. “Ryan, you watch the babies, I’ll get us some party supplies.” 

By the end of the day, the apartment was filled with balloons, streamers and banners. Geoff had even managed to get a minecraft themed cake (Ryan wasn’t quite sure that Ray would like it but Geoff had protested that cake was traditional for birthdays and it was either a minecraft or a Disney princess cake). Geoff had also bought a handful of presents for the boy and was frantically wrapping them in the living room, wanting to guarantee that everything would be ready for when Ray exited the boy’s room. 

When Ray eventually emerged from his room, he was met by a boisterous chorus of “surprise!” from Gavin, Michael, Jack, Geoff and Ryan. Ray stood at the doorway in silence for a moment, then his face broke into a bright grin, something which the others had never seen before. “I knew you wouldn’t forget!” He quipped happily before dashing forwards for a group hug with his new family.


	12. Brown Baby

The first time that Geoff heard the kids refer to Ray as “Brown Man” he was so baffled that he had to take a moment to compose himself before he could speak.

“Why the hell do you call him that?” Geoff asked with a perplexed expression.

“’Cause that’s what the other kids at school call him.” Gavin replied innocently. 

“It’s cause he’s so brown.” Michael chimed in as he threw a ball at Gavin, knocking the other boy over.

“He’s not even that dark though.” Geoff pointed out arching an eyebrow.

“He’s probably the darkest in his class.” Ryan commented from the couch where he sat reading his book. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed but their school isn’t particularly diverse.” 

“I like it.” Ray grinned happily. “It makes me feel special.” 

And thus, the nick name Brown Man was born. Geoff constantly wondered whether passers-by thought that they were racist, but Ray was in on the joke. In fact, he was the one who used it the most. Geoff once walked in on a game of cops and robbers just in time to see Ray pat the head of Ryan who was playing dead and saying “Brown RIP”. Geoff didn’t have the heart to tell him that it didn’t make any sense.


	13. No Place Like Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Guns, Murder, Violence

The crew were being followed. 

Jack was the first to notice the man following them; a tall, intimidating figure wearing a trench-coat and a jet black porkpie hat. The man was always conveniently just around a corner wherever they went, watching them silently. Jack asked Ryan to check up on the man and after a few hours of using a photo they had taken to search for him on the internet, they found out that the man was a private investigator named Flynt Coal. Jack and Geoff came to the conclusion that the man wasn’t a threat. If he was connected to the police then they would have had to take him out, but the man appeared to be a freelancer. So they let him watch, Geoff was even sure to pose for some photos or swear at the camera whenever he had the chance. After a few weeks, the man was gone and the Fake AH Crew thought nothing more of it. 

Almost a month passed and then one day Geoff was woken by a loud banging on their front door. Cursing under his breath, Geoff threw off his covers and stormed over to the door, yanking it open. “What?!” He demanded, bitter that he had been woken up so early in the morning. 

“Where is he?!” An equally enraged voice roared. 

Geoff was faced with a tall muscular man, dressed in a white wife beater which showed off his bulging arms. The man was accompanied by a petite woman whose skin had been  
spray tanned so many times it was practically orange. 

“Where is he?!” The woman repeated with a sharp Jersey accent. 

Geoff rubbed his face wearily. “Who the fuck are you?” 

The door to the lads’ room opened and three heads peeked through the gap in the door. They were all dressed in their onesies; Gavin was a Creeper, Michael was a bear and Ray’s onesie was designed to look like a tuxedo. 

Michael squeaked when he spotted the couple at the door. “Don’t let them in Geoff!” He yelled, quickly closing their bedroom door. 

“There’s the little shit!” The man bellowed, pushing past Geoff and yanking the bedroom door open. He pushed through the boys, grabbing Michael by the neck of his onesie and picking him up. Michael grabbed the man’s hands, kicking his legs in his attempt to escape. 

“Geoff!” Gavin cried, tears forming in his eyes at the sight. 

“Where the hell have you been?” The woman followed, her heels clicking against the hardwood floor as she stormed forwards. 

“Jack!” Geoff yelled, hoping that the noise had already her woken up. “Get the guns!” He raced forwards, pulling back the man’s shoulder and punching him square across the jaw, almost breaking his hand in the process. “Mother fucker.” Geoff hissed, holding onto his injured hand. “Put him the fuck down!” 

“You can’t tell him what to do. That’s not your kid.” The woman scowled. 

“He damn well is!” Geoff protested, his eyes glancing over at Ray and Gavin who had hidden on the top bunk and were watching with wide, fearful eyes. 

“That’s my fucking son!” The woman hissed. “Come on Joe, let’s go.” 

“You’re not going anywhere.” Jack appeared at the doorway, blocking their escape and aiming a gun at the man’s forehead. “Put him down.” 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” The man laughed, tightening his grip on Michael, almost chocking the boy.

Jack scowled. “You’ve been watching us right? You sent that private eye to watch us for a few weeks. So you know who we are, what we do…” He cocked the gun. “And what we’re  
capable of. I’ll say it again.” Jack moved the gun over, aiming it at the woman instead. “Put. Him. Down. Or I will shoot.” 

The man glanced across at his wife, a worried expression flickered across his face before he came to his decision and dropped Michael, sending him crashing to the ground.

“Micoo!” Gavin yelped, quickly climbing down the ladder of the bunk bed to pull his friend away from the threat. 

“Hands up, both of you.” Jack demanded, happy when they instantly complied. She tossed a gun over to Geoff who caught it with an expert ease. “Boys, you wait here, okay? We’ll  
be back in five minutes.” 

Jack and Geoff marched the couple out of the apartment and into the alley at the side of the building. Geoff had expected that Jack would just make them swear not to return and let them go. But Jack was obviously more enraged than Geoff had expected, because they didn’t let the couple go. Instead, they dumped the bodies of Michael’ parents into the dumpster in the alley. 

After making sure that there was no trace of blood on either of them, Geoff and Jack returned to their apartment, finding Gavin, Ray and Michael bundled up on the couch. They were cuddled together under a blanket, watching cartoons on the flat screen TV. Michael was sat in the centre with Ray and Gavin cuddling in on either side. 

Ray’s head shot up when the door opened; he relaxed when he saw Geoff and Jack walk through. “We’re not talking about it.” Ray warned them before he cuddled back into Michael who was staring at the TV with a blank expression on his face. 

Jack paused for a minute, before forcing a smile. “Who wants cocoa?” She asked, dashing to the kitchen before anyone answered. 

Geoff moved over to sit on the chair next to the couch, watching the boys anxiously until Jack came back with a tray full of hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows.  
He placed the tray onto the coffee table and handed the boys each a mug. He looked down at Michael as he gave him his drink. 

“…They’re not coming back.” He assured the boy. “I promise.” 

Michael looked down at his mug, unable to look anyone in the eye. “Good… thank you.” He nodded, managing to look up at Jack with a weak smile.

Jack smiled brightly in response. “You’re welcome Michael.”


	14. Alone Again

They weren’t coming back. Ray knew it. 

Michael, Gavin and Ray had been sat at their schools desks for almost an hour with no sign of leaving anytime soon. Geoff and Jack had been on a stakeout during the day and Ryan was supposed to be picking them up. But the school had been called to say that he had been delayed. Gavin and Michael were chatting casually but Ray couldn’t calm down.  
His fingers tapped against the wood of his desk anxiously and he stared up at the clock, watching the minutes tick by. He couldn’t help the feeling that they weren’t coming back and that he and the other boys had been left alone. He couldn’t help but wonder if it was just the three of them, would Michael and Gavin leave him too? The pair were close and Ray knew that if they were forced back onto the street again, then Michael would protect Gavin. But what about him? Would they take him with them? Or would he be alone again? 

Gavin glanced across at the boy, eager to involve him in the conversation. He dropped what he had been about to say when he noticed Ray wincing every time the clock moved, a worried expression etched upon his young face. He leaned over with the intent to cheer Ray up but before he had the chance, Ryan ran into the classroom, out of breath from running from his high school. 

“I’m sorry! I got detention, I couldn’t get away!” He panted, leaning against the door as he caught his breath. 

“Ryan!” Ray squeaked, running from his desk and throwing himself around Ryan, wrapping his arms around the boy tightly.

Michael and Gavin watched with perplexed expressions. Ray had never been particularly touchy and avoided physical contact when he could. To see him hug Ryan so desperately was bizarre. 

“… Hey Ray.” Ryan hugged him back, picking him up to carry the small boy. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

“It’s okay…” Ray mumbled, resting his head on Ryan’s shoulder. 

Ryan frowned, confused by the odd behaviour but decided not to comment on it and instead walked them to the car. As he drove, Ryan noticed Ray staring up at him from the passenger seat. 

“… Are Geoff and Jack okay?” He asked quietly.

“I haven’t heard from them but I’m sure they are.” Ryan assured him.

“…How can you be sure?” 

“Because I trust them. They know what they’re doing.” 

“Okay…” Ray nodded and turned to look out the window silently.

Gavin noticed that Ray looked anxious for the rest of the night until Geoff and Jack returned late that evening. Ray make sure that they were okay and then snuck away to play his  
video games. 

“…I don’t think Ray likes being alone.” Gavin told Michael with a worried tone.

“He just left to be alone with his game.” Michael pointed out with a bemused expression. 

“Oh…” Gavin frowned, confused. “Maybe he’s scary of being alone in the future? Like if Geoff and Jack didn’t come back…” 

“You think? Then we’ll just make sure he’s not left alone, okay?” Michael nodded. 

“Okay!” Gavin agreed eagerly, racing to the bedroom to see if Ray would let him play too. 

*** 

After that, Gavin was always careful about leaving Ray alone. Michael thought that Gavin was overreacting but Gavin was determined that Ray would never feel anxious and alone  
again. One day, while the boys were in high school, Ray had a cold so had to be left home while the others went on a heist. Before they left, Gavin burst into Ray’s room; giving him a new game to distract him and two stuffed toys; one creeper and one bear. 

“So it’ll be like we’re still here!” Gavin announced happily as he presented the gifts. 

“… Thanks buddy.” Ray chuckled. 

“And I’ll text you while we’re gone! I promise.” Gavin beamed as he escaped to re-join to crew. 

They were gone for a grand total of four hours. During that time, Ray hardly had the time to play his game. He was too distracted by the constant barrage of texts from Gavin.  
Gavin sent him updates and selfies of the heist as well as numerous texts about when they’d be home. 

Ray smiled as he flicked through the photos, saving them onto his phone so that he would have a reminder of how much his family cared for him.


	15. Prom Night

“My little Ryan’s all grown up.” Geoff stated, tearing up.

“Geoff. It’s just prom.” Ryan sighed.

“Just prom?! My boys going on his first real date!”

Ryan shook his head dismally as Jack came over to adjust his tie. “You guys are making way to big a deal out of this.” 

“We’re just excited for you.” Jack chuckled. “And Geoff gets a bit emotional.”

“No I don’t!” Geoff protested instantly, his voice impossibly high. “Shut up! You’re emotional.” 

“I’m going to go now.” Ryan sighed. 

“Wait, we need a picture!” Jack stated, quickly taking a picture of Ryan in his suit. “You should have brought your date so we could meet her.”

“Yes, I’m going to bring the girl from high school to meet the criminal gang I hang out with.” Ryan shook his head. “I’m not even bringing her home to meet my parents.” 

Jack nodded understandingly. “Well I’m sure you’re going to have a great night.” 

“Our little Rye Bread is going to get laid.” Geoff cooed. 

“And I’m done.” Ryan stated, quickly exiting before Geoff said anything else. 

***   
In the end, Ryan’s night didn’t go the way Geoff had expected. Ryan returned to the apartment early and was met by the expectant audience of Gavin, Michael and Ray.

“How was the prom Ry-Ry?” Gavin asked. “Did you get laid?” 

“What does get laid mean?” Ray asked. 

“No idea.” Gavin shrugged innocently. 

Ryan chuckled as he sat down on the couch. “No I didn’t. I could barely talk to her.”

“You couldn’t?” Michael arched an eyebrow. “What happened?” 

“When I get nervous, I er….don’t do words good.”

“You flubbed it?” Gavin gasped.

“…Flubbed?” Ryan had to question.

“Yeah, sometimes you get your words all mixed up and you flub it.” 

“Then… yeah? I suppose I did flub it.” Ryan confirmed. 

“You’ll get it next time buddy.” Ray commented in a surprisingly sympathetic tone. 

“Thanks Ray.” Ryan smiled. “So why aren’t you guys in bed?” 

“We were waiting for you to get back. We wanted to see if you had a good time.” Gavin smiled. 

“Well that’s sweet, but you guys need to get to bed.” 

The boys moaned in protest but obeyed none the less. Ryan waited to make sure that the boys had fallen asleep before sneaking out to return to his actual home, not wanting to   
face Geoff for a while, just in case the man was still emotional.


	16. Put On Your War Paint

Ryan’s parents weren’t the most observant of people but Ryan suspected that if he was caught on camera and ended up on the news with the Fake AH Crew, then they would notice. Failing that their friends would notice and let them know. If he was going to become a more active member of the crew, then he would have to be sneakier about it.

Alibis were easy enough. He could fake his internet history to say whatever he wanted it to say. So it would be easy enough to prove to his parents that he had been home on his computer at any time. The problem was how much media attention the crew attracted. There always seemed to be cameras following their heists. Luckily no-one ever seemed to get a shot close enough to cause Geoff and Jack any bother at the boys school. But Ryan was much more cautious. If he was going to be on camera, then he would need a disguise. The mask was easy enough to find. He didn’t want to but it online or in a store; that was far too traceable. So instead he trawled markets stalls and car boot sales until he found the perfect black skull mask which he bought for a grand total of 3 dollars. 

However, just a mask wasn’t enough. If for any reason his mask was damaged or removed then his face (and subsequently his identity) would be exposed. So Ryan went to the nearest fancy dress store and began to experiment with face paint. 

“Watcha doing Rye-Bread?” Gavin enquired, popping his head through the gap left by the bathroom door. He was promptly followed by Ray and Michael who were just as curious. 

“Just trying out something new.” Ryan shrugged as he applied blue paint around his eyes.

“Can we help?” Gavin gasped excitedly. 

“Sure. Why not?” Ryan put down the sponge and washed the paint off so that his face would be a blank canvas. “Knock yourselves out.”

He sat on the floor as the small boys clambered over each other to grab the paints. Michael was the tallest of the three boys so he coloured in Ryan’s forehead, making it a bright   
red. Ray took the lower half of Ryan’s face, very carefully painting it white. Meanwhile, Gavin smeared black everywhere, drawing lines over Ryan’s lips, splodging it onto his cheeks and drawing around his eyes. 

“It’s perfect!” Gavin proclaimed happily when they were done.

“You look super tough.” Michael confirmed with a swift nod.

Ryan chuckled, standing up to examine their masterpiece in the mirror. “…I like it.” He smiled, taking a quick picture to keep as a reference, deciding to use the boys design whenever he needed to paint his face in the future.


	17. Puppy Power

Jack had always loved animals. Growing up she had always had a house full of cats and dogs to keep her company. But when she began her criminal life with Geoff, Jack had to give her animal family up. They were always moving around the city and it would be impossible to keep moving and re-homing her babies.

But now that they had their boys, Geoff and Jack had regained their domestic life and Jack was eager to add some pets to their family (despite Geoff’s objections). Geoff would adamantly reject each of Jacks pleas, and Jacks was starting to give up on the idea until her dreams were surprisingly saved by their little lads. 

One day the lads came back from playing on the streets with a dishevelled puppy which Gavin very carefully carried into the apartment. 

“…What on earth is that?” Geoff demanded. 

“It’s a puppy.” Ray explained simply. “You know, like in Nintendo dogs?” 

“I know it’s a dog.” Geoff sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “But why is it in my apartment.” 

“It’s ours now!” Gavin proclaimed, putting the puppy onto a pillow on the sofa and wrapping it up in his hoodie. 

“You can’t just take dogs from the street.”

“Why not?” Gavin whined. “You took us off the streets.”

“He’s got you there.” Ryan commented with a slight smirk. Jack had to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing. 

“We’re going to teach him to be an attack dog!” Michael grinned eagerly. 

“We can keep him… right?” Gavin ventured.

Geoff took a deep breath, trying not to glare at Jack. “…Fine. I guess. But I’m not cleaning up after it!” 

“Yay!” Gavin cheered, running over and hugging Geoff happily while Jack moved over to check out the latest addition to their little family.


	18. Pillow Wars

The Lads took play fighting seriously. To them it was like training, preparing for their inevitable future. So they didn’t have pillow fights, they had full blown pillow wars.  
Michael and Gavin had teamed up, declaring themselves “Team Nice Dynamite”. To even the odds, Ray laid claim to Ryan and the duo hide behind the sofa, using it as their base of operations. The R and R connection silently discussed their battle plans, weighing up the different pros and cons of each style of attack. Team Nice Dynamite on the other hand…

“What’s the plan Micoo?”

“Grab as many pillows as we can and charge at ‘em?” Michael suggested, arms already filled with the cushioned projectiles.

“M’Kay.” Gavin nodded in agreement cheerfully.

Geoff walking in just as the young boys mounted their assault. He weaved through the small bodies and air borne pillows, making his way to his liquor cabinet. He decided not to ask how the boys had amassed almost a hundred pillows to wage war with. Life was just easier that way.


	19. Hide And Seek

Another way that Geoff used games as a way to train his boys was Hide and Seek. In some jobs, stealth was essential and the lads were going to have to learn how to effectively hide from possible enemies. He and Jack took on the role of seekers and sent Ryan, Michael, Gavin and Ray away to hide while they counted to one hundred.

Once the countdown was complete, Geoff and Jack set about the task of finding their boys. They paused as they heard a jingling tune coming from the lad’s bedroom. Geoff and Jack shared a look before moving to investigate. It wasn’t long before they found the source of the noise. Geoff lay on the ground, reaching under the bed to pull out Ray. The boys eyes were focused on the DS in his hands and his ears were encased by headphones.

Ray glanced up at the man. “Oh no. You found me.” He proclaimed apathetically.

Geoff picked the boy up and placed him on the bed. He them pulled at the unconnected headphone cord. “You gotta plug these in for them to work buddy.” He explained patiently.

“Ah. So I’m out then?” Ray asked, eyes already back on his game.

“No way.” Jack chuckled. “You can be a seeker with us.”

Ray pouted but dropped the DS nonetheless in order to begin the search for his brothers.

Gavin was hidden behind the shower curtain, snickering to himself as soon as Jack stepped foot into the bathroom. Ryan was found in the closet. But Michael was nowhere to be  
found. 

After twenty minutes of searching, Geoff started to get nervous. “Okay Michael! You win! Where the hell are you?!” 

Michael climbed out from the kitchen cabinet under the sink. “What did I win?” 

Geoff sighed in relief. “Tell you what, you can have an extra sticker for the chore board, okay?” 

“Nice!” Michael ran into the living room to claim his prize.


	20. Babies On Board

“This is not an appropriate time for this!” Geoff screeched as he sped up the car.  
“What do you want me to do about it Geoff?” Jack snapped in retort, hanging out of the car window, gun in hand. “Should I just ignore the damn shoot out?” 

“I’d rather we not do a shootout at all with the kids in the car!!” 

Jack glanced back to check on the trio of boys who were strapped in booster seats in the back. Luckily they were protected by the back seats, so the only way that they could be hurt was if someone aimed at them through the side windows or if Geoff crashed the car.

“Babies on board, Asshole!” Geoff yelled as he swerved around a corner.  
Jack quickly ran out of bullets and started to scramble to find another gun. He froze as he noticed that one of the lads was no longer strapped into their seat. 

“Use these!” Michael beamed cheerfully, handing Jack a handful of sticky bombs from the secret compartment under the passenger seat. 

“… Good call.” Jack grabbed the devices and promptly blew up all three cars which had been chasing them. The lads cheered triumphantly and Geoff sighed  
in relief.

“Okay.” Jack nodded, picking up Michael and strapping him back into his seat. “Now it’s time for school.” 

The lads groaned miserably and Geoff corrected their course and headed back towards the boys school, hoping that the staff members wouldn’t mention anything about the bullet holes which now graced his car.


	21. Just One Of Those Days

Ray was having a bad day.

To start with, he had somehow managed to drop his beloved DS from the apartment’s balcony and had watched it shatter into tiny pieces. 

School had been no better. The teacher droned on and on and Ray barely understood a word she was saying. It was safe to say that he was not excelling in his classes. He then had to deal with David. David was in the year above the lads and for whatever reason he had chosen Ray to be his favourite victim and teased the boy mercilessly, always careful to do so when Michael was out of earshot. 

Ray was hoping for a reprieve when the boys returned home, but he had no such luck. Someone has taken his share of the afternoon snack which Jack left out for the boys every school day. 

Someone had eaten his cookie. 

And with that, the little boy snapped. Ray snuck into their bedroom and filled his backpack with anything that he could lay his hands on. He wrote out a quick farewell note and escaped the apartment undetected. 

Ray walked through the streets with no real direction or sense of purpose. He merely felt that he needed to put as much distance between him and everyone else as possible. Eventually he reached a park and took a seat on the first bench he came across to rest his tired legs.

It was starting to get dark when the reality of the situation hit him. He was alone again.

He was cold. And scared. And lonelier than he had ever been before. So he did the only thing that he could do in such a situation; Ray started to cry. 

***

It didn’t take Ryan long to track Ray down once Geoff had called him in a flustered panic. The tiny boy was sat alone on a park bench, crying his eyes out. Ryan frowned slightly before walking over and silently taking a seat next to Ray.

Ray wiped the tears from his eyes with his sleeves as he looked up at Ryan.  
Without a word he wrapped his arms around Ryan and cuddled in. “…I had a bad day.” He eventually admitted. 

“That’s okay.” Ryan assured him, wrapping an arm around the boy. “It happens to everyone. You want to tell me about it?” 

Ray sniffed miserably before launching into his tale. 

Ryan listened patiently, nodding his head in understanding. “That does sound terrible. You wanna know how we’re going to fix it?” 

“…How?” 

Ryan picked Ray up, carrying him with ease. “First off, we’ll go to the convenience store and get you the best damn cookie we can find. Then we’ll get you a replacement DS. And then we’ll go home and apologise to Geoff and Jack for giving them heart attacks. Okay?” 

“Okay.” Ray nodded, holding onto Ryan tightly.

Ryan neglected to mention how he intended to solve Ray’s bullying problem. But he already had a plan in mind for dealing with the punk who had upset his little brother. For now though, his attention was focused entirely on making Ray’s day better. 

***  
Ryan was furious. He didn’t like the idea of anyone harassing his family, least of all Ray. Ray was without a doubt the baby of the family. He was the youngest, the smallest and the scrawniest (he had looks practically malnourished when they had first met). Ray was also very placid. When faced with a confrontation, Michael would meet it gladly. Even Gavin would get into a fight if the situation called for it. But Ray was much more apathetic than his brothers and far less likely to cause a fuss, which had led to all of his bottled up emotions exploding in his recent outburst.

Luckily Ray normally had his brothers to defend him. But Michael and Gavin were still children themselves and couldn’t be saddled with the responsibility of defending Ray 24/7. It just wasn’t fair. 

So Ryan decided that it was time for him to step in. It wasn’t difficult for Ryan to identify Rays bully and locate his home. Ryan donned his mask and snuck into the boys’ room in the dead of night, aiming for the maximum dramatic effect. 

He locked the bedroom door and watched the child for a few moments while he figured out the best way to wake the boy. He eventually settled on planting both hands on the mattress and flipping it, sending the boy crashing to the floor. 

“Wha-?!” David instantly jolted awake.

“You listen to me.” Ryan crouched over the boy threateningly. “You know Michael,  
Gavin and Ray. Correct?” When the boy remained silent, Ryan pulled out a knife and held it to his throat. “Correct?” He repeated. 

“Yes!” David managed to squeak.

“Good. From now on, you don’t talk to them. You don’t touch them. You don’t even look at them. Capiche?” 

“… Wh-?”

“It means ‘understand’.” Ryan explained in an unimpressed tone. 

“Oh!” David gulped. “Y-yes!” 

Ryan smirked under his mask and pulled the knife away. “You be good now.  
Because if I hear about you misbehaving again I’ll be back. And I’ll be sure to bring friends.” He warned the boy as he climbed out of the window and escaped.

Ryan headed home with a sense of pride, eager to see the boys the next day to  
find of just how effective his scare-tactics had been.


	22. Behind The Mask

Ryan’s parents were pretty blind to his extracurricular activities. He was very careful to always wear his mask during any kind of crew activity. And his face was always painted under the mask, so if anything ever happened to it, he would still be disguised. This meant that whenever Ryan appeared on TV in the newspapers, his parents would be none the wiser. This well-hidden secret was nearly destroyed one day when he mistakenly left his beloved mask in a laundry basket in his actual home. 

“Ryan Honey…What’s this?” His mother asked, holding his precious mask in her trembling hands.

His father stood behind her, gazing at Ryan with a confused, bewildered expression.

“It’s…” Ryan had to think fast. “Cosplay!” His brain provided.

“…What the hell is that?” His father demanded, looking even more confused. 

“Just a costume.” Ryan shrugged casually. “It’s a thing we’re doing for school.   
We’re all dressing up as famous criminals for a project about law and order. I chose the Vagabond because he’s one of the most contemporary examples we were given. It makes the research a lot more interesting.” 

He had apparently been convincing as his mother handed him back the mask with an apologetic smile. “Oh, I see. You really need to be more careful Honey. This can’t go in the machine. It needs to be hand washed.” 

“Sorry mom.” Ryan smiled at the woman, internally sighing with relief. He would have to be much more careful in the future to avoid any more close calls.


	23. Bitches Get Cut

“Bitches get cut.” Geoff explained in a calm tone of voice as he inspected the thin slash across Michaels palm caused by a biking accident. “But bitches also get Band-Aids.” He continued as he covered the wound with a dinosaur Band-Aid. “And bitches also get kisses.” Geoff smiled warmly as he kissed the bandaged finger.

“Thanks Geoff….” Michael murmured bashfully in reply, both embarrassed and reassured by Geoff’s response to his injury. He ran off back to Gavin and Ray, while Geoff congratulated himself on being the best dad in the universe.


	24. Three Brothers Meet Death

The man had been an assassin, intent on murdering Geoff’s three little lads in order to earn his pay. He had no clue what his employers motivation was. Revenge? Sheer hatred perhaps? The assassin knew better than the ask questions, as long as he was paid he was happy. Although he didn’t exactly relish the idea of killing little kids, it had to be done. 

Everything had been planned to the last detail. He knew the targets, the floor plan and he knew that both of the adults were out of town for the weekend. What he hadn’t accounted for was the fact that their baby-sitter was even more cold-blooded than the assassin himself. 

The boys slowly started to wake as the door to their bedroom was pushed open. It was Michael who first noticed the shadowy figure. 

“Who the fuck are you?” He yawned, his voice groggy and irritated.

In response, the man pulled out a knife. The glow from their night-light glinted off the metal menacingly. Understanding that he would have to silence Michael first, the man grabbed him and dragged him out of the bed. 

Before the blade got anywhere near Michael, it was snatched away from the attacker and used to slit his throat. Blood spluttered out and as the body fell to the ground, the boys found Ryan stood in the doorway.

He knelt down to inspect Michael, ensuring that the boy hadn’t been hurt. “Go sleep in Geoff’s bed tonight.” He commanded and, for once, the lads didn’t talk back. Instead, Michael tugged Gavin and Ray out of their beds. Holding their hands (which Ryan suspected was a tactic to stop Michaels own hands from shaking), Michael led his brothers out of the room, carefully avoiding the growing pool of blood. 

The boys weren’t going to sleep. The vision of blood spurting from the man’s body was too vivid. It was practically burned it their brains, forbidding any hope of sleep. So, instead of sleeping, Ray fetched the boys DS’s so that they could play Mario Kart together, distracting themselves whilst Ryan disposed of the body.


	25. An Army Of Duck Sized Horses

“Geoff…” Gavin started, using the tone of voice which suggested he was going to ask an over complicated question.

“Yeah Buddy?” Geoff responded, resigned to his fate. 

“I have a question.” 

“I figured as much.” Geoff laughed. “Shoot.” 

“You know how Jack is like Momma-Jack?” 

“You guys really call Jack that?” Geoff arched an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” Ray confirmed. “You’re the dad and Jack’s the mom. Duh.”

“…okay, go on.” 

“How come sometimes Jack looks like a girl, and sometimes looks like a boy?”   
Gavin asked, eyebrows furrowed.

“Oh! Well, Jack is so special, that he can be both genders at once.”

“Yeah?” Gavin gasped. 

“So is Jack a he or she?” Michael tilted his head.

“You can use both.” Jack interrupted, walking in and passing the kids a cup of   
cocoa each. “Sometimes I feel more like a he. Sometimes more like a she. So I don’t really mind which one you kids use.” 

“Awesome.” Gavin grinned toothily. “….Geoff?” He asked, using his questioning tone again.

Geoff sighed. “What buddy?” 

“Would you rather fight a horse sized duck? Or an army of duck sized horses?”


	26. Parents Evening

Parents’ evenings were exhausting. Geoff had to bite his tongue and try to resist slapping the boys’ teacher as she informed him that Ray was a slacker and that Michael had a bad attitude. He resisted the temptation to tell her all about the boys past, and explain why Ray was scared to get involved and why Michael distrusted adults. But that would only lead to more questions. So he silently fumed. He just had to get through her analysis of Gavin, then he could leave and find a way to blow off steam. 

“And Gavin is… unique.” The woman settled for, finding trouble finding the words to describe the young boy.

“What’s that supposed to mean? You calling him a dope?”

“Oh no!” She flustered. “Quite the opposite actually.”

“… You what?”

“Gavin seems to be excelling in his studies. Particularly the sciences. He’s very passionate about the subject and asks many intriguing and relevant questions.”

“… You sure we’re talking about the right kid?”

“Of course Mr Ramsey. He’s quite the budding scientist.” 

“Ah-ha…” Before he could say anything else, another teacher burst in. “Mr   
Ramsey! Please control your children.”

“See. That sounds more like my boys.” Geoff got up and followed the intruding teacher to the dining hall, where he spotted Michael being restrained by a member of staff. Michaels lip was cut and there was another boy Geoff didn’t recognise on the floor, out cold. 

Geoff swooped in, snatching Michael from the staff member and lifting him up so they were face to face. “What’s up Buddy?”

“He deserved it!” Michael scowled, filled with rage. 

“Yeah? What did he do?” 

“He’s always being mean about how Gavin talks and Ray’s colour. So when he   
pushed Gavin, I punched him.” 

“Sounds fair. Not very smart to do it in front of the teachers though.” 

Michael pouted in response. 

“Let’s go home.” Geoff decided, carrying Michael on his shoulders and holding   
Gavin and Ray’s hands. 

“Mr Ramsey. I-!” 

Geoff cut off the startled teacher. “I’ll send Jack in to deal with everything   
tomorrow. But right now, I’m taking my boys out for ice-cream.” He explained, already heading towards the exit.


	27. The Blame Game

The second Geoff walked into his apartment he spotted the lamp. It had been knocked from its previous position and had shattered upon contact with the hardwood floors. Geoff knew exactly who the culprit was, the little lad with aggression issues who had been responsible for a string of breakages recently.   
With a scowl on his face, Geoff entered the boy’s room and unceremoniously scooped Michael up.

“Whu-?!”

“You’re in time-out buddy.” Geoff explained, carrying him to the spot on the balcony that they used as the ‘naughty step’.

“But I didn’t do nothin’!” Michael protested, trying to wiggle himself free.

“What did Micoo do Geoff?” Gavin asked, trailing behind them. 

“He knows exactly what he did and he’s being punished for it.” Geoff stated, placing Michael on the seat. “So now he has to stay here for ten minutes while he thinks about what he did.”

“Micoo…” Gavin sniffed, upset that Michael was being punished. 

Michael however, snarled at Geoff. “I didn’t do it!” 

Geoff ignored him and instead took Gavin by the hand, leading him away. “Come   
on Buddy, let’s go get some ice cream.”

Geoff led Gavin to the kitchen, just in time to see Jack pass through with a broom.

“Oh!” Jack looked slightly out of breath. “Be careful if you go into the living room.   
I knocked the lamp over and it took my forever to find the broom so I haven’t been able to clear it up yet.”

Geoff’s eyes went wide. “….SHIT!” He exclaimed as he ran back to the balcony.

“Language!” Jack called after him before looking down at Gavin. “What happened?”

“Geoff owes Micoo a lot of ice cream.” Gavin surmised simply.


	28. A Model Child

Ryan had a terrible secret. One that only his closest family members knew about. He told no-one willingly, not even Geoff or Jack knew. Ryan was too afraid to tell them. He knew that it would irrevocably change things and that life would never be the same once they knew.

He was sat in a booth of a popular Diner, eating a bowl of ice-cream which his mother had insisted was the reward for a job well done. Ryan ate it with a small pout on his face, adamantly ignoring his parents rambling about his “shining career prospects”. Instead of following the conversation, he stared out the window and watched the cars pass. His skin crawled when he spotted a very familiar car pull up to the diners car-park.

“Oh no…” He muttered to himself, quickly shielding his face from view. 

“What’s wrong?” Ryan’s mother asked, confused by his small outburst. 

“Nothing, I just-” He jumped as he watched Geoff, Jack and the three young boys entered the diner. With no escape options, Ryan quickly used the menu to shield his face. “Still hungry. That’s all.” He explained to his parents weakly. 

Geoff and Jack passed the booth passed by without spotting Ryan, but the boys were excitedly scanning the new surroundings and quickly spotted their old brother.

“Ry-bread!” Gavin grinned, running over to hug Ryan’s side.

Ryan lowered the menu sheepishly. “Hey Gav.”

“Ryan…?” His father asked, a perplexed look on his face. “Who on earth is this?”

Ryan cleared his throat. “Oh, well, you know how I babysit most weekends? This   
is the family I babysit for.” He explained, not quite lying but still not telling the   
truth. 

“Oh.” Mrs Haywood smiled up at Geoff and Jack who had wandered over once   
they had realised what Gavin had been yelling about. “You must be the, uh-” She looked at Jack, clearly confused as to how to refer to Jack.

“The parents.” Ryan jumped in, saving her the embarrassment.

“Of course. Such a pleasure.” She smiled fakely. 

Geoff leaned against Jack casually. “And you are?” He arched an eyebrow. 

“My parents.” Ryan admitted quietly.

“Hello!” Gavin beamed at the strangers happily, still holding onto Ryan. 

Michael shook his head and took Gavin by the hand, pulling him over to where he   
and Ray were stood. 

“Well, good to meetcha I guess.” Geoff offered. 

“Ryan is wonderful with the boys.” Jack nodded, wanting to praise Ryan in front   
of his parents.

“He’s such a little business man, isn’t he?” Mrs Haywood asked rhetorically. “All   
of his hours babysitting and now his new modelling contract. Isn’t it wonderful?”

Ryan brought his hands up to cover his face. “Mom, why?”

“Because we’re proud of you, that’s why.” Mr Haywood interjected. 

Geoff quickly moved to stand behind Jack, his back turned to the conversation.   
His shoulders were shaking from the effort of suppressing his laughter. 

Ryan quickly stood, face flushing. “Well! It’s been fun, but we really have to go.   
We have a meeting with my agent in thirty minutes.”

“We have plenty of time dear.” Mrs Haywood tried to explain, but Ryan was   
already heading towards the door. “He’s so punctual.” She smiled. “A pleasure   
meeting you all.”

Once the Haywoods left, Geoff was free, to let out his laughter, tears in his eyes.   
“He’s never going to hear the end of this.” He said breathlessly. “Oh my God.”

Jack merely shook his head fondly; lifting to the boys into their seats and helping them decipher the menu as they left Geoff to his fit of laughter.


	29. Headcanon Ask Dump

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is all responses to asks I've gotten on tumblr and will be updated regularly

**Orange/ Ray**  
**Orange:what makes you feel warm inside? what’s your favourite Halloween tradition? what’s the last thing you learned? when’s the last time you felt obsessed? what’s your favourite article of clothing?**

As dorky as it sounded, what made Ray feel warm and content was time spent with his family. He had gone from being completely alone, to being surrounded by people who loved him. It could get over-bearing at times, as he often needed time to himself to recharge. But spending time with his family always made Ray feel loved.

His favourite part of Halloween was after the trick or treating was done, and the boys would climb onto the couch and watch a cheesy (kid friendly) horror movie. Rays personal favourites were Halloween Town 2 and the Haunted Mansion. Geoff would laugh at how absurdly bad the effects were while Jack would fuss over the boys, wrapping them in blankets to keep them warm and making them cocoa. More often than not, the boys would fall asleep there, cuddled into each other after they’d had their fill of candy.

Ray had always been obsessed with games. Every time a new game came out, he would be desperate to give it a try. But after being used to poverty, Ray never asked for anything from Geoff or Jack. However, whenever he did well on a spelling test or got a good report from school, one of the games would appear for him and Ray would spend hours totally consumed by the digital world.

Ray would never admit it, but his favourite article of clothing was his onesie. Geoff had gotten all of the boys (including Ryan) one for their first Christmas together. Ryan was a skeleton, Michael was a bear, Gavin was a creeper and Ray’s onesie looked like a tuxedo. He always thought he looked pretty cool in it.

**Blue/Ryan**  
**Blue: what do you do when you’re sad? what are some things you do when you can’t sleep? what was the best (non-romantic) night you’ve had? what kind of covers do you have on your bed? who is the last person you told a secret to?**

Whenever Ryan was upset, he would sneak out of his parent’s home and make his way over to Geoff and Jack’s apartment. No matter what time of day it was, he would be happily received with open arms. If the lads were awake, they would rush to include him in whatever game they were playing. If the boys had gone to bed, then Geoff and Jack would watch a film with him. Geoff would always offer alcohol even though Ryan had refused countless times in the past. If it was so late that everyone had gone to bed, Ryan would simply fall asleep on the couch, content in the knowledge that things would be better in the morning.

If he couldn’t sleep, then Ryan would often walk aimlessly around the town. He would often wear his mask to disguise his age. If anyone spotted a young teen wandering the streets after midnight then there would probably be questions. When he wore the mask, he was left alone. He liked walking around when the streets were totally abandoned, the serene quiet helped to calm him after hectic days.

Ryan’s fondest memory was one night, shortly after Geoff had amassed all of his orphans, when Jack insisted that they go on a camping trip to get to know each other better. It wasn’t exactly Ryan’s idea of a good time, but he relented after some intense pleading from Michael, Ray and Gavin. The small group sat around the campfire, toasting marshmallows while Geoff told ridiculously exaggerated stories about his and Jacks adventures, presumably in an attempt to impress the kids. It was the first time that Ryan had felt like he was part of a warm, loving family (unlike his biological one).

At his parents’ home, Ryan’s sheets were a plain blue. His mother liked a minimalistic look and hated any kind of pattern or unnecessary decoration. When Geoff made a bedroom for him at the apartment though, Gavin had been tasked with picking the bedding while shopping with Geoff. Gavin had decided that Ryan needed Spiderman sheets. When Ryan asked him why Spiderman, Gavin simply replied that Spiderman was cool, as if that should be reason enough.

If Ryan had a secret that he felt like he needed to share with someone, more often than not he would tell Jack. Jack had a special way of listening without interruption or judgment that made Ryan feel like it was safe to tell him anything. He didn’t share many secrets, but when he did it was always with Jack.

**Blue/Michael**  
**Blue: what do you do when you’re sad? what are some things you do when you can’t sleep? what was the best (non-romantic) night you’ve had? what kind of covers do you have on your bed? who is the last person you told a secret to?**

When Michael was sad, he would distance himself from everyone. He didn’t like them to see him upset. He was perfectly content expressing rage and anger in front of everyone, but sadness felt like it should be private to him. His solitude never lasted long though, as Gavin would quickly notice his absence of his “boi” and go find him. If Michael looked upset Gavin would hug him and pull him back to their bedroom so they could play with Ray for a while to distract him from whatever was making him upset.

When Michael first stated to live with Geoff and Jack, he found it very difficult to sleep. He was always listening for the creak of floorboards, the door being pushed open and the violence that usually followed. It never happened at Geoff’s apartment, but that didn’t mean Michael could relax. There was no knowing when things would go back to normal. So he would sit on his bed, staring at the door until he eventually passed out from exhaustion. This went on for months until Michael finally started to trust his new guardians and felt confident that he could let down his guard in order to sleep.

Michael’s favourite night as a child followed one of their Sunday driving adventures. Geoff had decided to take them out of the city and had gone so far out that he had gotten them lost. When the car broke down, they had to hitchhike to the nearest motel (Geoff, Jack and Ryan each carrying one of the lads). Michael gazed up in amazement at the stars in the sky, grinning as Jack explained the stories behind all of the constellations. When they finally reached the motel, Jack bundled the boys up in a double bed and let them watch cartoons until they passed out.

Michael’s bed covers were the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (or Hero turtles as Gavin insisted).

Michael told any secrets that he had to both Gavin and Ray. They were a team and would tell each other everything. Even when they couldn’t tell the grownups.

**Yellow/Gavin**  
**yellow: if you could have any view from your bedroom window what would you choose? what’s your favorite thing to do on a sunny day? what do you consider lucky? what made you smile today? what makes you happy?**

Gavin missed England. If he could have any view, then it would be London. He wanted to see the towering landmarks and the British flag waving in the breeze. He thought it would make him feel less like an outsider. He knew he was different from his American family. They teased his accent playfully but at school it could be a lot less playful (luckily Michael was always there to defend him). However, as much as he missed England, he was content with the view that he had. Los Santos was just as beautiful in its own way.

Gavin loved to be outside, exploring the city. So when the weather was nice he  
would barrage Geoff and Jack with requests to go somewhere new. More often than not, Geoff was overcome with work and planning, so Jack would take the boys out, finding them new and exciting places to explore. Gavins personal favourite was anywhere that had ice cream.

Gavin had a lucky pound coin. It was the only British currency he had left and he considered it to be a precious treasure. He kept it hidden in his pocket and never told anyone about it. Whenever he was feeling homesick for England he would take it out and look at the Queens face, making up stories about the monarch and her life in his head.

His family made Gavin happy. He often wondered if he was being too clingy, but he couldn’t help it. Having a happy family had seemed impossible for Gavin, but now he was safe, comfortable and above all insanely happy.

**Yellow/Michael**  
**yellow: if you could have any view from your bedroom window what would you choose? what’s your favorite thing to do on a sunny day? what do you consider lucky? what made you smile today? what makes you happy?**

As far as Michael was concerned, he already had the perfect view from his bedroom window. He had always lived in big, bustling cities and loved to see the city skyline, especially late at night when all of the windows shone yellow with the lights.

Michael loved going to parks on sunny days. Especially ones that had equipment for him to climb on. He would excitedly climb anything he could, testing his strength and agility, constantly pushing himself to do better. Which more often than not resulted in him falling off and ending up with scrapped knees and elbows. Luckily Jack always brought a first aid kit with them, knowing that Michael would inevitably injure himself through reckless behaviour.

The only thing Michael ever considered to be lucky were shooting stars. Every time he saw one, he would close his eyes and make a wish. Most of the time, he simply wished for things to stay the same. Occasionally he would wish for a new bike. Regardless he would never tell anyone what he wished for (no matter how much Gavin asked). That was bad luck and would therefore invalidate his wish.  
Michael liked games. Especially ones that the whole family would play. He loved family game night and was at his happiest when all of the family (Ryan included) were playing together. Unless it was monopoly. Which all of the lads hated with a fierce passion.

**Ryan/Purple**  
**purple: what’s your astrological sign? what’s the best piece of advice you ever received? when’s the last time you followed your instincts? what’s your favorite food? what’s your secret dream?**

Ryan was born early in December which made him a Sagittarius. He had never held much belief in astrology though, the idea that distant balls of gas could determine his fate was laughable to him. He was far too scientifically minded for that.

Surprisingly, the best pieces of advice Ryan received normally came from a very drunk Geoff. Ryan’s favourite piece of advice came shortly after his college graduation, where he was slowly cutting off ties to his biological family. “Fuck ‘em.” Geoff had shrugged casually when Ryan had mentioned it. “They don’t make you happy? Cut them out of your life. Do whatever you need to do to make you happy.” After consideration, Ryan took Geoff’s words to heart. He knew it would disappoint his parents, but it was his life. He could afford to be selfish.

Ryan’s favourite food was sushi. It had to be fresh though, he couldn’t stand the pre-packaged stuff from convenience stores. He much preferred to make his own and would spend hours in Geoff’s kitchen preparing it. He often thought that if circumstances would have been different, then he would have made a great chef. It was a private dream though and certainly not one he would be telling anyone about. He knew that the teasing for it would be relentless.

 

**Ask: Can you tell me more about lil Rays relationship with the lads and his dads? Who does he go to first when he is scared? Does he have a fave person? Who is he most scared of pissing off? Who does he hug?**

When he’s scared, Ray goes to Ryan. The Boogeyman can’t touch him when he has the Vagabond as a bodyguard.

His favourite person changes based on who fed him last. So normally it’s Jack or Ryan.

He’s scared of pissing off Geoff. The rare moment’s when Geoff is seriously mad are terrifying. 

He hugs Ryan the most. Normally when he’s scared. But he get’s a lot of hugs from Gavin too (initiated by Gavin of course). 

 

**Jack And Geoff**

**8) Who insists on always dressing up on Halloween, and who wants to stay home and hand out candy?**

Geoff always wants to dress the boys out and take them trick or treating.

Jack prefers getting comfy on the couch watching bad films. 

Normally they compromise. Geoff gets two hours of trick or treating. Then the boys come home to watch a film. 

**11) Who spends an eternity getting ready to go somewhere, and who fusses about the time and being late?**

Both Jack and Geoff are pretty punctual. Geoff is more laid back about it. But Jack will fuss about the possibility of being late. 

**12) Who plays or tries to play the piano, and who climbs on the piano and tries to lay “seductively” on top?**

Geoff would absolutely lie on the piano. 


	30. Momma Jack

Ryan hadn’t been seen for a week. This, in itself, wasn’t unusual. Sometimes school and family obligations would mean that he didn’t have the time to stop by. But he hadn’t messaged Geoff or Jack either and he wasn’t replying to any of the messages that Jack had sent him. Something had to be up. 

Jacks maternal instincts were kicking in and the anxiety was over whelming.   
“Have you heard anything yet?”

“No, I’ve told you a million times.” Geoff sighed. “Look. I-” He picked up his   
phone but froze as he spotted the latest message. “….We have the kid.” He read in a quiet, shocked tone. 

Jack snatched the phone from Geoff’s hand. She tried to call the number the text came from but it seemed to be blocked. “Great. Just…” Jack fought hard to resist the urge to smash Geoff’s phone. 

“We need a hacker to find the location.” Geoff reasoned. “But they took our   
hacker…”Before he could finish his thought, Geoff’s phone lit up with another   
text. “They want a million dollars. There’s a location here.” He showed Jack the   
text and moved to grab the nearest guns. 

Jack snatched the guns out of Geoff’s hands. “Someone has to keep an eye on the boys. You stay here and I’ll go get Ryan back.” 

“But-”

“No debate. I’m going.” Jack announced, with a fierce glare. Geoff had never seen   
her so furious before. 

“Okay.” He resigned. “Give ‘em hell.” 

***

Jack arrived back at home two hours later, propping up Ryan who was walking with a limp. 

“What happened??” Gavin squeaked, running towards the pair. 

Ryan slumped down onto the couch as Jack picked Gavin up. “It’s okay. Someone tried to hurt Ryan, but I got him back. Everyone’s safe again.” 

“Yay!” Gavin smiled happily, oblivious to the consequences of a kidnapping. 

“No-one messes with momma-Jacks babies.” Geoff commented with a small   
smirk. 

“I had the situation under control.” Ryan muttered under his breath. 

“This is what family is for.” Jack stated simply. “Now, I think its bedtime.” 

“Awww.” Gavin complained. “Is Ry staying?”

“Of course he is.” Jack smiled. “We’re going to take good care of him.”


	31. A Really Evil Guy But A Really Good Dad

“We have ways of making you talk.” Geoff smirked at the man bound to a chair. His knife glinted menacingly in the moonlight. “And I-” He paused when he heard the door open, quickly spinning around. “Gavin. Gavin. I’m working right now.” He quickly hid the knife behind his back. 

“But Geoff. Look!” Gavin held up a crayon drawing. He had drawn stick figures, two large, one medium and three smaller ones. A family portrait. 

“Oh my gosh. Did you draw this? That is so good.” He cooed, picking Gavin up. Come on buddy. We’re putting this on the fridge.” He stated, carrying Gavin to the kitchen. 

“Um… Hello?” Geoff’s victim called after them, thoroughly confused by the whole situation.


	32. The Getaway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Guns

“Fall back!” Geoff yelled, the number of cops was overwhelming and with no escape route in sight, things were starting to get hopeless. He pulled Jack to the ground before they were hit by a spray of bullets and pulled over to use it as cover. “Any ideas?” He asked desperately. 

“None…” Jack frowned, clinging to her gun. “I-”

Before Jack could finish, an explosion blew a hole in the wall next to them. 

“What the fuck?!” Geoff exclaimed as he swatted about debris. 

As the smoke cleared, the pair spotted a man stood in the gaping hole in the wall. He was wearing a baggy leather jacket and a black skull mask. 

“Well.” Ryan asked, his voice dulled by the mask. “You coming or what?”  
Jack grabbed Geoff’s arm and pulled him through the hole, into Ryan’s getaway car. 

“How did you know we needed help?” Jack asked as he took the wheel and pulled away, racing away from the scene of the crime. 

“I was listening to the police scanners.”

“Who’s looking after the babies?” Geoff squawked. Ryan was their babysitter, so if he was in the car with them, then there was no-one looking after the three lads. 

“They’re fine.” Ryan assured him. “They’re fast asleep. They won’t even notice that I’m gone.”


	33. Cinderella

Michael wasn’t like other children. Most children were messy, they didn’t care about the messes they left and had to be forced to tidy up after themselves. But Michael was always tidying up after himself and his brothers, their room was always perfectly organised no matter how much Gavin and Ray would mess it up.  
Geoff and Jack never questioned the boys quirk until one day when they walked in and found him scrubbing the oven, muttering to himself about how filthy it was. 

“Uhhh, Ryan?” Geoff asked, arching an eyebrow. “What’s up with Cinderella?” 

“I’m not sure to be honest…” Ryan admitted. “We were watching TV and I think… There was a married couple arguing in the show we were watching. I think it might have upset him. He snuck off to go tidy the kitchen up half way through the fight.” 

“It must have reminded him of his parents.” Jack sighed. “But why cleaning?” 

“Go ask him.” Ryan suggested. “Find out.”

Geoff looked over at Jack. “You’re better at serious things. Go check on the boy.”  
Jack rolled his eyes and walked into the kitchen, crouching down by Michael. 

“What you doing?”

“Cleaning.” Michael explained as if it was obvious. 

“I know, but why? You’ve done all your chores for the week.”

“…..Dad never liked when things were dirty. It would make him mad.” Michael admitted quietly. 

“You know we won’t get mad about any messes though, right?”

“Yeah, I know. But… it makes me feel better.” He shrugged. 

Jack paused for a moment. “… How about I help you? We can make the kitchen spotless, and then we’ll go get some ice-cream?”

“… kay.” Michael nodded with a small smile.


	34. Home Invasion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Violence, Murder

It was almost one in the morning but Ryan was wide awake and typing away on his laptop. He was testing his hacking abilities by seeing which government agencies he could break into. It was a pretty profitable business. He would tell them how flawed their system was and they would pay him to keep quiet about it while they scrambled to fix it.

Ryan worked in silence, the clicking of the keyboard was the only noise to be heard. Which is how Ryan very distinctly heard a creak from the hallway. He knew it wouldn’t be his parents, they rarely ventured to his side of the floor and they certainly had no reason to at night; they had an en suite and the kitchen was in the other direction if they needed to fetch a glass of water. Which could only mean one thing: there were intruders in Ryan’s home. 

He abandoned his laptop and silently walked over to his bed, under which he had hidden a stash of his criminal paraphernalia. He pulled out his leather jacket and his mask, quickly pulling them both on for protection and privacy. He reached for his guns but decided better of it and grabbed one of his knives instead. He didn’t want to wake his parents, so this would have to be done in silence. 

Ryan exited his room and quietly stalked his prey. There was only one intruder that he could see, which make things remarkably easier for Ryan. He watched the man fill his backpack with anything that was easily grabbed. Ryan assumed that the intruder was fairly new to home invasion. He grabbed worthless items, such as a necklace that his mother had left on the desk, but ignored the incredibly pricey first editions which lined the shelves. Rookie mistake. 

Ryan arched an eyebrow as he watched bemused as the man try to fit a vase into the backpack. The thief’s haste caused the vase to slip from his fingers, sending it crashing to the floor. They both winced at the harsh sound of the shattering porcelain. 

“Big mistake.” Ryan commented, moving towards the man eerily. 

“Who the fuck-?” The thief lashed out, choosing fight over flight, he grabbed the nearest lamp and threw it towards Ryan.

Ryan laughed as the lamps electrical cord caused it to drop from the air before it was anywhere close to him. He raised the knife menacingly. “You came to the wrong house buddy.” 

Ryan took a step forwards, raising the knife, but before he reached the thief a   
baseball bat crashed against his stomach, totally winding him. 

“Get the hell out of my house!” Ryan’s dad yelled, shaking in fear. “You have ten seconds before I call the police!” 

Ryan turned to find that the actual thief was long gone, having escaped through the patio doors. As his dad raised the bat to take another swing, Ryan held up his hands defensively and dropped the knife. “Okay, okay.” He said, putting on a deep and gravelly voice, not wanting to be recognised. There was no way that he could explain this away if he was caught. “I’m leaving.” He made a quick exit and, knowing that he couldn’t take his own car without raising suspicious, he walked into town and called Jack to come pick him up.

Ryan shivered in the cold night air. He was glad that he had pulled his thick leather jacket on. It was handy in fights, absorbing some of the blows, and it was stopping him from totally freezing to death. He watched the street, waiting patiently for Jacks arrival. Something caught Ryan’s eye as he waited; a man dressed in the same baggy hoodie and baseball cap as the intruder had been. He smirked to himself, thanking whichever deity had brought on this lucky   
coincidence. He left his alley and caught up to the man, trailing behind him. A quick check confirmed that this was the same guy. He was clinging to the backpack full of stolen possessions. Ryan smiled. This time, he would make quick work of him. 

Although the man was physically much larger than the teenage, Ryan was well trained. He walked behind the man and quickly pulled an arm across his neck, cutting off his oxygen supply. The man fought hard, but Ryan didn’t budge. He stood firm until the man finally stilled. 

“Um, Ryan-?” Jack’s voiced echoed through the night air. 

Ryan dropped the man, grabbed the backpack full of his family’s belongings and walked towards Jack. “Thanks for coming.” He said simply. “Walking to the apartment would have sucked.” 

“…Sure.” Jack looked back at the body as Ryan nonchalantly climbed into the car. Ryan seemed totally undisturbed by what he had done. Which lead Jack to believe that it wasn’t the first time the Ryan had ended someone’s life. Worried by what that meant for the teen, Jack silently got into the car, drove Ryan back to their apartment and watched as he crashed on the couch. Jack sighed to himself. He would talk to Geoff about it in the morning but for now, they needed their sleep.  
In the morning, Ryan was woken by a barrage of noise from the lads. He sat up and yawned, brushing a hand through his hair. “….um?” He questioned as he found tiny daisies woven into his hair. 

“We picked them from outside.” Michael explained. “It was Gav’s idea really. But he couldn’t get the flowers to stay in place so I finished it for him.” 

“… Thanks.” Ryan replied with a soft smile. He got to his feet, hissing as he was hit by pain.

“What’s up?” Geoff asked, sipping coffee at the kitchen counter.

Ryan pulled up his shirt to check the damage. A dark purple bruise had formed across his stomach where he had been hit with a baseball bat the previous night.   
“…This.” He replied. 

“Who the hell did that?” Geoff questioned.

“My father.” Ryan shrugged, dropping his shirt to hide the bruise.

“WHAT?!” Geoff exclaimed, slamming his mug down and spilling coffee over the   
counter. “I’ll kill that son of a bitch!”

“Yeah!” Michael grinned brightly. “Go get ‘em Geoff!”

“No, no.” Ryan shook his head. “He didn’t know it was me. He was hitting…   
Vagabond. It was self-defence really.”

“… Well I’m still pissed.” Geoff mumbled angrily. 

“And I appreciate that. But it’s fine. Really. I handled the situation. I just have to call my parents so they don’t think I was kidnapped, and then everything will be hunky dory.”

“What’s that mean?” Michael asked, tilting his head in confusion.

Ryan smiled. “It means I’m okay.”


	35. Pizza Party

It took a while for Jack and Geoff to notice but Ryan always seemed to be hungry. Geoff always attributed it to the fact that Ryan was a teenager and teenagers always craved junk food in some form or another. But Jack was more attentive, he noticed that as soon as Ryan stepped foot in the apartment he would make a bee-line to the kitchen and grab a diet coke and something to eat before he greeted the others. 

“Don’t they feed you at home?” Geoff commented one day with a joking smile.

“Not really.” Ryan retorted, taking a gulp from the can of coke in his hands.

“…What?” Jack questioned sharply. 

“Ever since the whole modelling thing started my mom’s been kinda freaked out about calorie intake. It’s pretty dumb really. The diet she’s got me on is insanely strict.”

“I’m ordering pizza right now.” Geoff stated firmly, getting up to grab his phone. 

“You want my cookie Ry Ry?” Gavin piped up, offering Ryan his after school snack.

“No buddy. You eat that.” Ryan chuckled.

“And I’m calling your mom too!” Geoff yelled. “No son of mine is going to be god-dammed starved.”

“…Son?” Ryan questioned quietly. 

Jack laughed. “You’re ours too dummy.” She explained, wrapping an arm around Ryan’s shoulders. “We’ll make sure you have more than enough to eat, okay? And I’ll get you extra money to get food at school.”

“…Thanks Jack.”

“Is ten pizzas enough?!” Geoff yelled, already on the phone with Dominoes. 

“Pizza!” Michael yelled happily, high fiving Ray and ‘accidentally’ hitting Gavin in the face.


	36. The Matrix

“Hey Ry?” Gavin started, tugging at the leg of Ryan’s jeans.

“What’s up buddy?” Ryan asked, his eyes never leaving the screen of the laptop that sat before him. He was studying the code, trying to find some kind of weakness that he could utilise for his nefarious purposes.

“Whatcha doing?” 

“Hacking.” Was Ryan’s simple reply. “Aren’t you playing with Michael and Ray?” 

“The games only for two people. And they said I can have a go when someone dies. But they’re both really good, so they’re not dying.” Gavin pouted, folding his arms across his chest.

Ryan paused for a moment before lifting Gavin up and placing the young boy on his lap. “Come on. “I’ll show you how my game works.” He gave Gavin a small smile, pointing to the screen. “You can help me hack.”

“This isn’t hacking.” Gavin stated as he examined the screen.

“No?” Ryan questioned with a small chuckle.

“No. The numbers aren’t green.” 

It took Ryan a moment to figure out what Gavin meant. “It doesn’t always look like it does in The Matrix.”

“What?” Gavin gasped, totally betrayed. 

Ryan laughed. “No Buddy. That’s just a movie. I’ll show you how code really works.” He promised, explaining what he was doing as he returned to his frantic   
typing. 

Gavin watching in amazement as Ryan worked, enthralled by the ever changing screen that lay before him. In the end, he was glad that he had been left out of Michael and Ray’s game. This was so much cooler.


	37. Home Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Violence, Guns

The penthouse was utter chaos. No-one was packed despite the fact that Geoff had warned them of the trip weeks ago, the boys were hyper (Gavin and Michael were running around duelling with plastic swords) and worst of all, there was a police officer stood in the doorway.

Geoff let Jack deal with the officer while he rushed around throwing things into the boys backpacks. He overheard little snippets of the conversation. Luckily the cop wasn’t after them; he was there to warn them about a string of burglaries in the area. Geoff struggled not to laugh at the idea of the infamous Fake AH Crew being burgled.

Regardless of the non-existent threat, Geoff was still in a hurry to leave. The less time spent near a police officer, the better. He scooped up all the bags and hurried the boys towards the door.

“Sorry officer. Love to chat but we’re on vacation. See you around!” He grinned fakely as they hurried out.

Jack chuckled, locking the door behind them.

“Don’t worry!” The officer smiled, waving as he watched the family leave. “Your home is in good hands.”

\--

Hours later, Ray had finally beaten his DS game and emerged from the bed room, hunting for a snack.

“Jack…?”

The penthouse was bizarrely quiet.

“Geoff….?”

He searched the entirety of the penthouse, becoming more and more panicked as each room was revealed to be unoccupied.

“Gav?? Michael?!”

Ray stared at the empty living room, tears pricking his eyes. His worst nightmare had become a reality. Ray had been left all alone. 

\--

Geoff could finally relax once they were on the road. They were miles away from home with the whole family. The ultimate road trip. The music was blasting and the boys were singing along happily.

They made their first stop to pick Ryan up. He was way on a school trip and Geoff was standing in as Ryans father (somewhat inspired by Ferris Buellers Day off) to pick him up early. Ryan climbed into the car, glad to get away from his class mates.

“How you doing Ryan?” Geoff asked as they pulled away.

“Good I guess.” Ryan paused as he looked at the boys sat next to him. “….. Hey Geoff?”

“Yeah buddy?”

“When was the last time you did a head count?”

“What do you mean?” Geoff turned around. “….. SHIT!!!”

\--

Ray was doing everything he could to keep himself calm.

Luckily the power had been returned after a big storm the night before, but the phone lines were still dead. With no way to contact his family, Ray was resigned to the fact that he would have to look after himself.

Ray climbed the counter to pull down as much junk food as he could carry and sat on the sofa to watch his favourite film; Oliver and Company. He had to turn it off after a while though. The film normally gave him comfort but now it just upset him more. Fagin always reminded him of Geoff; a man making his own little family by collecting strays off the street. He sighed and found a new game that he hadn’t started yet. He curled up on the couch, hidden under a blanket, as he played his DS. After a while he slowly drifted off to sleep.

\--

Ray was roughly awoken by the noise of people talking outside the front door, rattling the handle.

“What the hell are you doing Kovic?” A voice hissed from the other side of the front door.

“It’s a complex system okay? Shut your face Bruce. I’d like to see you hack this security.”

Panic gripped Ray as he ran to the nearest bedroom, hiding under Jacks bed. He knew that Ryan had improved the penthouses security, but he also had no clue who was trying to break in and how good they were at hacking systems like the one guarding the AH apartment.

Ray took a deep breath to steady himself. “Only a wimp would hide under a bed.” He told himself firmly. “And I’m not a wimp. I’m in the Fake AH Crew.”

The small boy crawled out from under the bed, listening carefully to the noise outside. “This is my home.” He stated as he pulled Jacks drawers open to find the hidden guns. “I have to defend it.”

\---

Ray set up as many booby traps as he could while the men squabbled outside over the security system. Once he was content that he had done as much as he could, he took his place under Jacks bed and waited, a controller in hand.

The door opened with a click and Ray smirked as he heard a crash as the men stood on the marbles that he had scattered across the floor. He listened intently as he heard various traps around the penthouse activate. His personal favourite was the screams of terror as the flame thrower blasted into action.

Unfortunately, Ray didn’t hear the man enter Jacks bedroom and suddenly a hand grabbed his leg, yanking him out from under the bed roughly.

“There you are you little shit.” The man hissed, half of his face burned by the flames.

Ray panicked, his hands clamped down onto the controller in his hands which sent a small RC car shooting out from the wardrobe. It crashed into the men’s legs, knocking his off balance. The man dropped Ray, who crashed to the ground.

Scrambling to his feet, Ray dashed towards the door. But he found the taller man stood in the doorway, blocking his escape.

“I don’t think so.” The man smirked, placing his boot firmly on Rays shoulder and kicking him across the room.

Panicked, Ray turned and ran towards the window, yanking it open and climbing out of it. He scrambled for the fire exit and climbed up towards the roof, figuring that he could hide up there.

He stood on the roof, legs trembling as he pulled out the gun that he had stashed in the pocket of his hoodie. “This is it…” He told himself, aiming the gun where the men would appear from the ladders if they had followed him. “Don’t get scared now.” His hands were shaking so hard that he almost dropped the gun.

The second someone’s head popped up from the ladder, Ray fired. Luckily he missed by a wide margin as it wasn’t one of his attackers who had climbed the ladder. It was Ryan.

“Ry…” Ray dropped the gun, tears welling up in his eyes.

“It’s okay buddy.” Ryan ran forward and scooped Ray up, hugging him tightly. “It’s okay. We’re home now. You’re safe.”

“Wh-… where’s Geoff?” Ray sniffled miserably.

“Well, he slipped on the marbles in front of the door. So he can’t climb the ladder.”

“Jack….?”

“He’s taking care of the burglars right now. He’s going to make sure that they can’t hurt anyone anymore.”

“Gav…. Michael?”

“They’re in your room. Waiting for you. Everyone’s home.” He smiled softly. “Come on. Let’s go.” Ryan climbed one the ladders, one hand wrapped securely around Ray.

As they entered the penthouse, Ray spotted Geoff on the couch, his foot propped up on a pile of cushions. Jack was tying the two injured burglars up with rope, a vicious expression on her face.

Ryan passed Ray over to Jack. “I’ve got this.” He assured their matriarch, a murderous glint in his eye as he grabbed the pair and roughly dragged them out of the apartment.

Jack sighed as she sat down next to Geoff, Ray in her lap.

“How you doing little guy?” Geoff asked, trying to remain calm despite the throbbing pain in his ankle.

“…. Not good.” Ray admitted, tears streaming down his face.

Jack wrapped her arms around Ray, cuddling the little boy who clung to her desperately. “We’ve got you.”

“I’m going to make this up to you.” Geoff promised him. “You’re going to be spoiled as fuck for the rest of your life.”

“I don’t want that. Just… don’t leave me again okay?”

“I promise Buddy.” Geoff assured him. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”


	38. Bad Language

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Contains swearing

“Geoff.” Jack sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Her voice was firm and clearly unimpressed.

“I’m not laughing.” Geoff replied, clearly laughing. He was buckled over, hands around his ribs, failing to contain his giddy delight.

“Geoff!” Jack scowled.

“Listen. I just-“ Geoff was hit by another barrage of giggles as they heard Michael’s yelling from the other room.

“This fucking lil shit needs to shut his mouth before I shoot it off!” The child yelled. 

The boys had been playing video games for the past hour. Geoff and Jack had been about to walk in with the intention of calling the boys for dinner, but had froze at the door when they heard a long string of curse words.

“Jesus Christ.” Geoff wheezed. “I bet he doesn’t even know what half the words he’s saying mean.”

“He gets this from you, you know?” Jack snapped. “You have to get your mouth under control.”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry.” He snickered as Jack quickly entered the boys bedroom, ready to reprimand Michael for his bad language.


	39. The Project

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No triggers, only fluff~

Jack normally made sure the boys were on top of their homework. But Gavin was pretty forgetful and often his homework would sit in his backpack for days, totally neglected. 

Which is how he found himself with one day to go before he had to present a big science project.

“Come over here Buddy.” Geoff sighed, putting his drink away. “I’ll give you a hand.”

“No, you can’t!” Gavin protested, clutching the paper sheet to his chest defensively. 

“Doesn’t it say you should get your guardian to help? Well, I’m your guardian, Kid.”

“Yeah, but…” Gavin trailed off awkwardly. 

“But what?” Geoff practically squawked. 

“But it’s science. So I want Rye-Bread to help me.”

“… Ryan?”

“Yeah! Because he’s really smart…. And good and science and stuff, you know?” 

Geoff paused for a moment then relented, grabbing his phone in order to persuade Ryan to come over and help his little brother with his homework.


	40. Camping Woes

“It happened again!” Geoff exclaimed in a panic, grabbing Jack by the shoulders.

Jack sighed. “What on earth are you talking about?”

In order to take a well deserved break, Geoff had taken all of the boys out of school and took them to the nearest forest for week of camping. 

Jack and Ryan had been left alone by the campfire while Geoff had taken the three lads to a river, intent on teaching them how to fish. Unfortunately, when he returned, Geoff only had two boys with him. 

“I fucking lost Ray again!! The kid is getting worse than god damned Waldo.”

“Wally.” Gavin piped up as he sat next to Ryan.

“Don’t call me names.” Geoff glared, before turning his attention back to Jack.

“….It’s ‘Where’s Wally?’ in England.” Gavin informed Ryan quietly. The pout on his lips disappeared when Ryan started to make s’mores for him and Michael. 

“I don’t get how you’re all so calm about this!” Geoff shrieked frantically. “We’ve gotta get a search party ready. We gotta call the police! Wait no! Police are bad. We gotta call our contacts! Ryan,call everyone we know!”

“….Or.” Ryan started, passing Geoff one of the s’mores. 

“Or what?!”

“Or you could go and give that to Ray who’s hanging out in the tent behind you. He decided that he didn’t like fishing and came back here to play his DS.” Ryan explained.

“And you didn’t tell me?!” Geoff looked ready to explode.

“We had bets on how long it would take you to notice.” Jack commented with a sly smile. “Ryan owes me twenty dollars.”

“I thought it would take much longer.” Ryan commented.

Geoff took a deep calming breath before turning around. “Kids gonna give me a heart attack.” He grumbled to himself as he entered the tent to deliver Ray’s s’more and to hug him as tightly as Geoff could.


	41. First Date

Griffon found herself enjoying her first date with Geoff since he had acquired his children. The couple had dressed up, gone out to a fancy restaurant and Geoff had even ordered her favourite wine. But there was one problem… 

Geoff sat opposite her, holding onto his phone to video chat with Ryan for the fifth time that evening. 

“Why won’t the god damned face time work?” He grumbled to himself, hitting the buttons of his phone furiously. “Ah!” 

“Geoffie!” Gavin beamed as he came into focus. He was dressed in a dark green dinosaur onsie and seemed to be brandishing a nerf gun.

“Heya Buddy.” Geoff replied with a warm smile. “How’s in going?”

“Good! Ryan said it was bedtime, so we declared war on him.”

Geoff could just hear Michael and Ray yelling the the background, causing chaos for Ryan.

Geoff laughed. “Well-” He was cut off as Griffon swiped the phone away from his hands.

“Gavin sweetie. I know you’re hyper right now, but I need you to do me a favour and get your brothers to bed so that I can have some alone time with Daddy Geoff. Can you do that for me?”

“Yes ma’am!” Gavin saluted, hitting himself in the face with the nerf gun as a result.

“Goodnight.” Griffon smiled, waving at the screen.

“Na-night!” The screen went black.

“Um…” Geoff started awkwardly, realising that he was being a terrible date. 

“Finally, some alone time.” Griffon smiled as she sipped her wine. “Just give me one hour of your time, totally uninterrupted. Then you can call Ryan again, okay?”

“You got it!” Geoff promised. 

In the end, Geoff only lasted thirty minutes. But Griffon found she didn’t mind too much. Geoff was taking baby steps right now, approaching the new situation with a distrusting unease. But Griffon knew that he would soon settle into his new role as a father. And she was positive that he was going to excel at it.


	42. The Pizza Boy

The Fake AH Penthouse was notorious among fast food establishments. 

They were a dangerous group of criminals, well known so spontaneous acts of unpredictable chaos. As a result, any delivery men who were sent there where paid danger money. Which is why Trevor would often volunteer for the position. He liked the extra money and the danger never really fazed him. After all, how bad could it really be?

Trevor reached the penthouse with relative ease but found himself hesitating before knocking on the door. 

What if the rumours were true? What if the Fake AH Crew were mad lunatics who would shoot him with a flare gun for no reason? Or worse. 

He sighed, swallowing his fear. He had come this far, there was no point turning back now.

He knocked. 

The door was swiftly pulled open and Trevor was faced with a man slightly taller than he was. The mysterious man wore jeans, a biker jacket and a jet black skull mask.

“Erm…I-” Trevor stuttered, completely thrown by the mans odd appearance. 

“How much do I owe you?” The mans voice was calm, relaxed. 

“Ah-…. $15.65.” He mumbled nervously. 

The skull man pulled out a wallet from his back pocket and passed him a hundred dollar note. “Keep the change.” It was hard to tell, but it sounded like he was smirking.

The boxes were yanked from Trevor’s grasp. 

“See you next time.” The skull man stated as he closed the door. 

Behind the door, Ryan took of his mask and smirked. He had just found his new favourite game. 

The next few weeks, Ryan played a number of tricked on the, now regular, delivery guy.

One time he paid in monopoly money. Silently daring Trevor to complain. (Ryan slipped the actual money into his pocket before he left.) 

One time, the Lads helped Ryan to construct a barricade behind the door. So when it was opened, Trevor was faced with “Do you hear the people sing?” blasting from the stereo and was attacked by the Lads who were armed with their Nerf guns. 

One time Trevor was blasted with a confetti cannon and balloons rained down from the ceiling once the door was opened. 

But one day, Ryan had no warning. He didn’t realise that Jack had ordered take-out. He had been preparing for a formal event with his parents, so he was all cleaned up, dressed in a well fitting suit when the doorbell rang. 

When the door was opened, Trevor stared at him blankly. “Sorry, I must have come to the wrong-” But that was impossible. He had delivered to the Fake AH Penthouse countless times now. This must be the right place. 

“No. You’re in the right place.” Ryan explained, taking the boxes. 

Trevor’s eyes lit up at the realisation as he recognised the voice. This was the man in the mask. Teen. Trevor corrected himself mentally. Mask guy looked to be the same age as him. The mystery had disappeared. He was, in fact, a real person. And an attractive person at that. “Damn. You clean up nicely.” Trevor commented before he had a chance to process what he was saying. 

Ryan paused, then smirked. “I feel like I should be offended.”

Trevor froze.

“But I’m not.” Ryan smiled, handing Trevor his money. 

Trevor relaxed. “No tricks tonight?” 

“I’m afraid not. Just my face.”

“So a treat then.” Trevor commented playfully.

Ryan paused for a moment before laughing. “I suppose so.”


	43. A Bathtub Full Of Frogs

The three lads were sat on the sofa, excitedly playing Mario Kart.

Ray was in first.

Michael was a close second.

And Gavin...? Gavin was driving in the complete opposite direction to the others.

Their excited yelling was silenced as Ryan swiped the controllers, pausing the game.

“Care to explain why the bathtub is full of frogs?” He asked, his voice calm despite the inherently bizarre question.

“Science.” Gavin replied simply. 

Ryan took a deep breath to calm himself. “Explain.”

“We learned about the cycle of frogs in school!” Gavin informed Ryan excitedly. “You know? Tadpoles to frogs. And I wanted to see it for myself. So! We went to the park, and I filled a Tupperware box up with tadpoles.”

“Ah....ha....”

“Then I worked out how long it would take them to get big. So I kept putting them in bigger boxes. But now they won’t fit in a box, they're too big Ryan.”

“Yeah Ry!” Michael interjected.

“So we put them in the bath. Because they like water.” Gavin explained as if it was obvious.

Ryan paused. “... Right. Come on.” He stated, ushering the three boys off the couch. “We have to round up some frogs and release them back into the wild before Geoff and Jack get home.”


	44. The Magical Girl Babysitter

Kdin was nervous. That much was evident. It was her first time babysitting and it didn’t seem like an easy job. From what she had heard, there was three small boys who could raise hell. 

She had dressed simply, jeans and a Sailor Moon t-shirt partially hidden by her hoodie. 

The dad, a moustached man named Geoff, gave her a short explanation of where everything was in the penthouse before escaping for a date with his girlfriend. 

Kdin took a deep breath before heading in to meet the kids.

“Who are you?” Ray queried instantly, not looking up from the DS in his hands.

“Um, I’m Kdin.” She replied anxiously. “I’ll be looking after you tonight.”

“Where’re Rye-bread?” Gavin moaned.

“He’s got a school thing.” Michael replied before Kdin could answer. “Jack told you that, Doofus.” 

“Oh yeah!” Gavin beamed. “Hi! I’m Gav. This is Micoo. And that’s Ray.” 

Kdin gave the boys a small smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Kdin, can you get us some snacks?” Gavin asked with wide pleading eyes.

“Sure thing.” Kdin escaped to the kitchen, so far so good. She made a plate of sandwiched up and returned to the living room just in time to hear Michael yelling at Gavin. 

“Gavin! Can you stop playing connect the dots with my freckles?” Michael complained as Gavin sketched across his cheek with a felt tip marker pen. 

Kdin quickly put the plate down on the table. “We should wash that off before it stains your skin.” She informed them, ushering Michael to the bathroom. Gavin followed behind dutifully, while Ray stayed in place, too immersed in his game to notice what was happening. 

It took almost ten minutes and a lot of soap, but Kdin eventually removed all traces of the ink from Michael’s skin. 

“Thanks dude.” Michael beamed, his cheeks red from all the scrubbing. 

“Um… Actually, I’m female.” Kdin informed them nervously.

“Cool.” Michael nodded, no signs of surprise or shock on his face. “But everyone can be a dude. Like, Jacks sometimes a girl. But sometimes Jack feels more like a boy. But Jack can always be a dude.”

“Oh….” A small smile crossed Kdins face. Oddly, the group of kids seemed far more accepting than anyone her own age had been. 

Ray appeared in the doorway, nibbling on one of the sandwiches which Kdin had prepared for them. “You like Sailor Moon?” He asked, gesturing to Kdins shirt.

“Yeah… It’s one of my favourite shows.”

Ray nodded. “I like Tuxedo Mask. We’ve got it on Bluray. Wanna watch?”

Kdin smiled at the little boy. “Sure.”

***

Geoff wasn’t quite sure what he was expecting. The boys could be… unpredictable. And any babysitter that wasn’t Ryan never seemed to last the night.

But he hadn’t gotten any panicked calls from their new babysitter. He honestly couldn’t figure out whether that was a good sign or a very bad omen.

He had visions of the poor babysitter tied up by the lads, unable to reach her phone. Hopefully the Lads had taken pity on the newbie but Geoff didn’t have high hopes.

As he walked into the penthouse, Geoff noticed that it was unusually quiet. Fear gripped Geoff until he heard the faint tones of music from the living room. He walked over to find Kdin and the three lads on the couch. Some magical girl anime was playing on the TV and his three little boys were fast asleep on the couch, curled up together under a fluffy blanket.

“How…?” 

Kdin stood up, careful not to disturb the sleeping boys. “They fell asleep about half an hour ago.” She explained.

“That’s…. Incredible! Way to go kid.” Geoff beamed, handing Kdin almost triple her babysitting fee. “You have a good night okay?” He smiled patting her on the back, ecstatic that the boys hadn’t scared away another babysitter. 

Kdin nodded, feeling oddly accomplished. She headed home with a sense of confidence and pride, looking forward to her next job.


	45. Trust Fall

“Ray.” Ryan sighed, his voice tense and filled with frustration. 

“No!” Ray called down from the tree branch he was currently sat upon. “Quit asking how I got stuck up here and just catch me.” 

“I can go find a ladder.” Ryan suggested. He was pretty confident in his ability to catch the boy, but he knew that one wrong move could lead to a broken bone or something far worse. 

“Don’t leave me here alone!” Ray yelled, clinging to the branch. Heights he could handle but being left alone was infinitely worse as far as Ray was concerned. 

Ryan reluctantly opened his arms wide, eyes fixed on Ray who shakily got to his feet. 

“Catch me!” Ray yelled as he jumped off the branch. 

Ryan’s arms wrapped around his waist and the breath was pushed out of Rays lungs. “Oof.” Ray looked up at Ryan. After taking a moment to catch his breath, he grinned. “I knew you’d catch me.” 

Ryan looked at the boy with a soft smile. “You guys are going to be the death of me.”


	46. Good Morning Kisses

“Have a good day at school boys.” Jack smiled as Ryan ushered the boys to the door, ready to do the school run. She passed over their lunches, kissing each of the Lads on the cheek as she did so. 

“Thanks Jack!” Michael beamed. “Did you remember my cookies?” He asked, opening the bag to examine its contents. 

Jack laughed. “Yes. Your cookies are in there, safe and sound.”

“What about Rye-bread?” Gavin queried, tilting his head curiously.

“Ryan gets cookies too.” Jack confirmed, passing Ryan a brown paper bag. 

“And a kiss?” Ray asked.

Jack chuckled. “And a kiss.” She kissed Ryan on the cheek, just like she had with the little Lads.

“Thanks.” Ryan mumbled, embarrassed by the show of affection. “But was the lipstick on my cheek really necessary?”

“Yes.” Jack practically sung. “Now go on now.” She ushered them out the door so that they wouldn’t be late for school.


	47. It's Not Rocket Science

Ryan was sat alone in the public library, scribbling down various equations. He had been tasked with triggering an explosion for their latest heist which meant a lot of advanced planning, especially since it was an area he wasn’t confident in. 

The chemical formula he had written would certainly combust, but not enough for the level of damage that he needed. Something was missing. 

“You’re balancing the equation wrong.” A voice in front of him stated simply. 

Ryan looked up across the table to find a familiar face watching him. “….Pizza boy?”

“I prefer Trevor actually.” He laughed. “May I?” Trevor asked tentatively, gesturing to Ryans notes.

“…Sure I guess.” Ryan slid his notebook across the table. 

Trevor quickly circled sections of Ryans handiwork, correcting them as he went.

Ryan arched an eyebrow. “How do you know about this stuff?”

“It’s a passion of mine.” Trevor shrugged casually, passing Ryan his notebook back. “Science has always been a passion of mine. I’m in my first year of college doing Aerospace Engineering.” He explained with a smile. 

“…And you deliver pizzas on the side?”

“Gotta pay for college somehow.” Trevor replied cheerfully, twirling the pen in his hands.

“You know… If you ever want something that pays a little more, I could probably hook you up?”

Trevor paused, thinking it over before smirking. “Tell me more.”


	48. Regrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Violence, Blood

_“Well, you’re not my real dad anyway! You can’t tell me what to do!” Gavin yelled, practically screaming. “I wish you were dead!”_

That was the last thing Gavin had said to Geoff.

He couldn’t even remember what they were fighting about now. It was all a blur. 

Next thing he knew, they were being ushered into a hospital room, where Geoff was lying on one of the beds. The man had clearly taken a beating. He was unconscious with various wires linking his body to the slowly beeping machinery. His skin was mostly hidden by stark white bandages, but what could be seen was a distressingly dark shade of purple. 

Gavin was the first to break the tense silence. “…. It’s all my fault.” 

“That’s not true Gavin.” Jack informed the boy, crouching down so that she was on the same level as him.

“It is!” Gavin protested, tears rolling down his cheeks. “I said I wished he was dead! And now he’s here! It’s all my fault!”

“Hush.” Jack scooped the boy up into a hug. “Geoff knows you didn’t mean that. You were just upset. Everyone lashes out at their parents every now and again, but that doesn’t mean you don’t love them.”

Gavin was crying so much that he couldn’t respond. He merely buried his head in Jacks shoulder, hiding his face. 

The doors to the hospital room were flung open and Ryan burst though, totally out of breath from running. He was wearing his usual school clothes, but parts of his white shirt were stained a dark red.

“Ry…” Ray whimpered, scared that Ryan had gotten himself hurt too. 

“What the hell Ryan?” Jacks eyes narrowed. 

“What? Oh, this?!” Ryan rubbed at the shirt.  “I swear this isn’t blood, it’s cherries.” 

“… Do I want to know?” Jack asked.

“Let’s just say I had a hell of a time getting here and leave it at that.” Ryan looked over at Geoff. “How’s he doing?”

“Not great. The doctors are confident he’ll pull through, but it’s going to take a lot of recovery.” 

“I’ll take the kids so you can focus on Geoff.” Ryan offered. 

A grateful smile crossed Jacks face. “Thanks Ry.”

* * *

Ryan took the three boys home. He found that they were too upset to sleep, so he bundled them all up in front of the TV and let them watch Power Rangers until they passed out. Once they were all fast asleep, he carried each of them to Jacks bed, figuring they would rather be together if the woke up during the night. 

Ryan couldn’t sleep. He switched the channels on the TV and started to watch a nature documentary, not really paying attention to it. There was far too much on his mind.

Around 2am, he heard the sound of shuffling footsteps and looked up to find Gavin in the doorway, holding onto the fluffy blanket that Ryan had wrapped him in.

“Ry…?” 

“Yeah Buddy?”

“I can’t sleep…. I had a nightmare.” Gavin admitted. 

“…Wanna come watch National Geographic with me?” Ryan offered. 

Gavin nodded silently, climbing the couch and cuddling into Ryans side. It took another hour for Gavin to fall asleep. Ryan was scared to move the boy in case he woke up again, so he let Gavin sleep cuddled up against him. 

* * *

The next day, he and the three lads started walking over to the hospital to visit Geoff. Ryan held Gavins hand as they walked, while Ray and Michael trailed behind. 

It took Ryan far too long to notice that he suddenly couldn’t hear Michael and Ray. He spun around to find that two of the lads had completely disappeared. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Ryan grumbled. He hoisted Gavin onto his back, piggybacking the Brit as he retraced their steps. 

It only took him a few minutes to find the boys, who were now covered in mud and carrying wilted bouquets of flowers. 

Ryan dreaded asking but knew that he had to. “What is this?”

“Flowers.” Ray replied simply.

“I can see that. Why?”

“For Geoff!” Michael informed him. “That’s what you do when people are sick in the hospital! You get them balloons and flowers.”

“And where did you get those from?”

“Over there.” Ray pointed to an ornate gateway across the road.

“… Did you serious steal flowers from a grave?”

“Well, they don’t need them!” Michael argued.

Ryan sighed. “We need to go back. You can’t steal from graveyards.” He explained, ushering the boys back. 

“But what about Geoff?” Gavin squeaked, resting his chin on Ryan’s shoulder.

“We’ll go to the store and get him from fresh flowers and some balloons okay?”

“Can we get him a teddy bear too?” Gavin asked.

“Sure thing Buddy.” 

* * *

Ryan ended up buying an almost overwhelming amount from the gift shop because the boys couldn’t make their mind up. 

Rays arms were filled with bouquets of flowers in a bright array of colours. Michael held so many “get well soon” balloons that Ryan was surprised the helium hadn’t lifted the small boy into the air. And Gavin timidly held a fluffy teddy bear, with the words “I’m sorry” written across it’s chest. 

They bustled into Geoffs room, surprised to find that Geoff was already awake. The injured man was sat upright in his bed, talking to Jack casually.

“GEOFF!” The boys cried in unison.

The flowers were dropped on the floor and the balloons were released in the air as the boys raced to the bed, jumping onto Geoff.

“Ooof!” Geoff winced, trying to conceal his pain.

“Gentle boys.” Jack warned. 

“I’m so sorry Geoff!” Gavin started to sob, clinging onto Geoff desperately. “I didn’t want you to die! Not really! I want you to keep on being our dad! I promise!”

Geoff gave Gavin a soft smile as he swept his three boys into a hug. “I love you too.” 


	49. Trevor's Apprentice

When Ryan had said he knew a way that Trevor could earn more money, Trevor hadn’t expected one of those ways to be babysitting. 

Apparently Ryan was away for the night with Geoff and Jack (who Trevor had learnt were the leaders of the Fake AH Crew) and their usual babysitter hadn’t been available. Which left Trevor alone with three very small children, completely out of his comfort zone. 

Luckily, the boys seemed to entertain themselves and Trevor found that he was free to sit in the living room and work on some formulas while they played.

He managed to work in peace for almost twenty minutes before one of the boys appeared next to him.

“Whatcha working on?” Gavin asked as he climbed onto the sofa to get a better look. 

“Just some science stuff.” Trevor replied vaguely.

“Science is for neeeeerds.” Michael announced loudly as he entered the room.

“It’s a lot cooler than you think.” Trevor chuckled. 

“How’s that?” Michael asked curiously, climbing up next to Gavin.

“Well, some elements react badly when you put them together.” Trevor explained patiently. “Some will ignite when you combine them and some, like this one-” He pointed to an equation. “Will cause a big explosion.”

Michael’s eyes lit up. He had no idea what the scribbling on the pages meant. But he knew that he liked  the sound of it. “You gotta teach me!” He demanded. 

* * *

When Geoff and Jack returned, they were surprised to find that their new babysitter seemed to be hosting some sort of science class in their kitchen. Gavin and Michael listened attentively as Trevor explained the periodic table. Ray was sat with them but wasn’t paying nearly as much attention to the lesson as his brothers. 

Jack lured the boys away from the lesson with the promise of food and Geoff took Trevor to one side.

“How the heck did you get them to listen to you?  Hell, you had Michael paying attention to school stuff. That’s some kind of miracle.”

Trevor shrugged. “He’s a practical learner. Once you show him what the abstract concepts do, he’s more interested.”

“Huh… Good job kid!” Geoff smiled, patting Trevor on the back.

* * *

That night, Michael went to bed completely determined to learn as much about science as he could, so that one day he would understand the equations that could cause explosions. It meant suffering through his school work. But now that he knew the end result, it was totally worth it. 


	50. Ryan's Lullaby

The Lads often had trouble sleeping on stormy nights. The crash of the lightning would jolt them awake and they would all gather in Ray’s bed to hide from the storm. 

Luckily, Ryan was there to keep them calm.

When the worst of the storm hit, Ryan entered their room armed with warm milk, figuring that it would be a quick way to get them back to sleep. As they drank, Ryan started to sing, hoping that a lullaby would help. He didn’t know any actual lullabies, but he figured that any slow song would do the trick.

“There was a barber and his wife. And she was beautiful.” He sung from the edge of Rays bed. 

He managed to get halfway though the song before a voice from behind the door interrupted him. “Jesus that’s a gloomy song Ryan.” 

“…How long have you guys been eavesdropping?” Ryan arched an eyebrow.

“Since you started.” Geoff replied, still hiding behind the door. “Keep going, but less of that gloomy shit.” 

“I’m sorry.” Ryan said un-apologetically, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “What would you rather hear?”

“Maybe something from this century perhaps?”

Ryan paused for a moment before singing a rendition of Nicki Minaj’s Anaconda. 

“RYAN NO!” Jack yelled from the hallway. 

“Let me have my show-tunes then!” Ryan sighed, looking down to find that the lads had already fallen asleep. “Oh…” He smiled softly, tucking them in and turning off the lights in their bedroom, praying that the storm didn’t wake them up again.


	51. I Want To Ride My Bicycle

Kdin found herself looking forward to the next babysitting night for the three lads. She had finally been able to afford her own car thanks to the ridiculously large bonus she had gotten from Geoff and was thrilled that she could finally drive to her new part job. She pulled up next to the apartment, surprised that she had been able to get a parking spot so close, and opened the door to get out.

Unfortunately she hadn’t spotted the young boy on a bike racing behind her. As she opened the car door, a tire banged into the frame, sending the young boy crashing to the ground.

“Oh my god!” Kdin quickly crouched down next to the boy. “Gavin?? What were you doing? Are you okay?!” She asked, panic gripping her voice. 

Gavin winced as he sat up. There were holes in his jeans and his knees were badly scrapped. Tears were starting to form in his eyes. 

“Come here.” Kdin bent down to pick Gavin up. She locked her car and managed to carry both Gavin and his bike back to the penthouse. Luckily the elevators were working fine, she didn’t think she would have been able to manage the stairs. 

“What happened?” Ryan asked, arching an eyebrow as Kdin burst through the door.

“He drove straight into my car door.” Kdin explained, out of breath. “He fell off his bike.” She placed the bike to one side and carefully placed Gavin onto the sofa.

“Lets have a look.” Ryan grabbed the nearest first aid kit (there were dozens hidden all over the penthouse) and walked over calmly. “Hey buddy.” He knelt down so that he was on Gavin’s level. “What hurts?” 

“My knees.” Gavin sniffed, wiping the tears from his cheeks. 

“Just your knees?” Ryan asked as he rolled the bottom of Gavin’s jeans up. 

Gavin nodded silently. 

“Easily fixed then.” Ryan smiled, cleaning the scrapes and placing dinosaur plasters over the few areas that were bleeding. “There you are.” He ruffled Gavin’s hair as he stood. “And you.” He turned to face Kdin.

Kdins heart stopped. She wasn’t an idiot. She knew about the families reputation. She dreaded to think what the punishment would be for hurting one of their children.

“You job tonight is to spoil him. Anything he wants, he gets. Okay?”

Kdin nodded frantically. “I can do that.” 

“Good.” Ryan smirked, grabbing his jacket and heading out the door. “I’ll send Michael and Ray up. Good luck.”


	52. Graduation

Geoff couldn’t stop the the tears from rolling down his cheeks. But it wasn’t his fault. Graduation was an important right of passage. His boys were all grown up and proudly accepting their diplomas. 

“Geoff.” Jack leaned in to whisper. “Will you calm down?” 

“This is important Jack!” Geoff countered.

Jack smiled fondly. “Yes. I know it is. But they only graduated second grade. It’s not like they’re going off to college. They’re not even moving schools. It’s just a change of classroom.” Jack explained, chuckling under her breath.

“I’m just so proud of them.” Geoff continued to sob. 

Meanwhile, on the small stage the school had set up, Gavin was trying to balance his tiny fake diploma on his head and Michael was using both his and Rays diplomas as drumsticks. Ray didn’t look too interested in the whole ceremony. His eyes scanned the crowd of parents and he smiled shyly when he spotted Geoff and Jack. 

Jack waved at the little lad, a bright smile on her face. “Me too Geoff. Me too.”


	53. Cuts And Bruises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you guys are interested, I'm running a writing/art challenge over on my tumblr page. This months theme is Kings And Queens. Check out the Orphan Brigade tumblr to find out more! <3

The heist hadn’t been a total disaster. 

The night had been a complete nightmare. Everything that could possibly go wrong did. But Geoff and Jack managed to return home only slightly beaten up, with a backpack full of money. So Geoff deemed the night a success. 

Geoff and Jack collapsed on the couch side by side, completely exhausted. They didn’t notice that the boys were still awake until Gavin appeared at Geoffs side.

“Are you okay Geoff…?” He asked tentatively.

“Course I am Buddy. Why would you ask that?”

“Because you’re covered in blood Jackass.” Ryan commented, walking over with a first aid kit.

“Ah.” Jack smiled softly. “We’re not hurt badly. Just lots of little bruises and scrapes. Nothing bad.”

“Looks pretty bad to me!” Michael interjected from the doorway where he was stood with Ray.

“You should see the other guys.” Geoff laughed. 

“Shut up and show me your wounds.” Ryan rolled his eyes as he started to bandage the pair up. 

“I wanna help!” Gavin raced to the first aid kit. Ray and Michael quickly followed suit. 

“This will help.” Ray informed Jack as he climbed onto her lap. He reached up and placed a dinosaur plaster across her cheek, despite the fact that there wasn’t any cuts there. 

“Thank you Ray.” Jack nodded, wrapping her arms around the boy. “I feel better already.” 

It wasn’t long before Jack and Geoff were covered head to toe in various types of bandages. Gavin even put Geoffs arm in a sling which he made out of his scarf. 

“Excellent job boys.” Geoff congratulated them. “But now it’s time for bed.” Ignoring the chorus of moans, he stood up and swiftly scooped up Gavin with his one free arm. Ryan followed suit, carrying Michael and Ray to bed. 

“…Are you really okay Geoff?” Gavin asked.

“Takes a lot more than that to hurt me.” Geoff boasted. “We’re fine. I promise.” He told Gavin in a more serious tone of voice, kissing his forehead as he tucked him into bed. “Now go the fuck to sleep.”


	54. Raining Cats And Dogs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you guys are interested, I'm running a writing/art challenge over on my tumblr page. This months theme is Kings And Queens. Check out the Orphan Brigade tumblr to find out more! <3

Gavin knew that he shouldn’t.

He knew that it was probably a very bad idea that could get him in trouble. 

But he couldn’t help himself. The tiny kitten just looks so helpless in the rain. 

He scooped the creature up and very carefully tucked it into his raincoat, being careful that he didn’t squish to kitten in the process. 

He had to be sneaky about this. He knew he couldn’t let the other know what he had done. 

So Gavin very carefully snuck into the penthouse suite and headed directly to his room.

“Gavin.” 

Gavin jumped when Jack called his name. “Y-yeah?”

“What’s that?” Jack arched an eyebrow.

“What’s what?” Gavin pleaded ignorance.

“The lump under your coat.”

“I don’t know what you’re on about Jack.”

It would have been the perfect con. If only the kitten hadn’t chosen that moment to meow.

Jack sighed. “Gavin.”

“He was out in the rain all alone Jack! I had to do something.”

Jack crouched down, unzipping Gavins coat to free the kitten. She gently stroked the little ball of fur, assuring it that things were okay. “Gavin, you see this collar?”

“… Yeah.”

“That means that this kitten belongs to someone. It already has a home.”

“Well, they should be taking better care of it!” Gavin protested. “It was all alone in the rain!” 

“I’m sure that the kitten escaped and just got lost. They shouldn’t be out this young. I’ll call the owners and they can come pick him up.”

Gavin pouted. 

“You can play with him in the meantime. But you have to be gentle.” Jack warned him. “And he needs to go back home, okay?”

“… Okay.” Gavin sighed. 

Jack patted Gavin on the shoulder. “You’re being very mature about this.”

“I am?” 

Jack smiled. “Yes. And once the kitten goes home, I’ll talk to Geoff about us getting our own cat. Okay?” 

“Thank you Jack!” Gavin raced off to tell Michael and Ray.

Jack smirked to herself. Geoff was going to hate this.


	55. The Candy Store

[Moved To High School Years]


	56. Easter Egg Hunt

“Okay, so here’s how it’s going to work. There are eggs hidden all over the penthouse.” Jack explained to the lads. “The ones I’ve hidden are yellow and the ones that Geoff hid are blue. You need to find as many as you can before you get your Easter baskets. The person who find the most eggs gets an extra little treat.”

“And there’s a prize for us too.” Geoff grinned.

Jack laughed. “That’s right. Whoevers egg is found last wins too.”

“Why’s that?” Gavin asked curiously, tilting his head.

“Because it means I hid it the best.” Geoff replied with a cocky smirk.

“Bit over-confident Geoff.” Jack teased with a fond laugh.

“Prepare to get your ass kicked Pattillo. Ready kids? GO!”

It took the lads almost five hours to collect all of the eggs that had been scattered throughout the penthouse. 

Ray ended up wining the Lads challenge. He calmly and methodically swept the rooms, often leaving with handfuls of the eggs. Whereas Gavin and Michael were easily distracted and kept getting into fights over who saw the eggs first. 

Jack and Geoffs challenge was a close one, but Jack eventually won when Ray pulled the last of the eggs out of a bag of flour from the pantry. 

“Finally.” Ray smiled with relief when he added the egg to his pile. “Can we eat now? Pleeeeeease.” 

Jack beamed with pride as he passed the Lads a basket each filled which chocolate treats. “Here you go Ray.” He passed Ray a plush rose toy that he had bought a few days earlier (given how this kind of challenge had worked in the past, he had no doubt that Ray would be victorious.)

“What did you win?” Michael asked Jack, already tearing into his chocolate.

Jack looked over at Geoff with a smirk.

Geoff sighed deeply before stating; “Jack Pattillo is the best egg hider of the house-hold. Truly the Queen of Easter. Her skills are a thing of legend.” 

“And?” Jack prompted, enjoying herself. 

“And I’ll do all your chores for a month.” 

Jack smiled, kissing Geoff on the cheek playfully. “Happy Easter Geoff.”


	57. Don't you dare look out your window, Darling.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Guns and Violence

Michael was alone in his bedroom. Ray and Gavin had gone to school for the day, but Michael was far too ill to leave the house, so instead he was wrapped up in a cocoon of blankets, fast asleep.

Halfway through the day, Michael was jolted awake as the sound of an explosion rocked the apartment. 

Ryan raced in, he was the closest thing to an adult in the penthouse. Jack and Geoff were both out of town for negotiations with other crews. 

“Hey, you alright?” He scooped Michael up and cautiously approached the window to see what all of the commotion was. Ryan instantly spotted a few members of a rival crew who were aiming at the penthouse with what looked to be a rocket launcher.

Crouched by the window for cover, Ryan kept one arm tightly around Michael, wanting to make sure the small boy felt secure. He used his free hand to aim at the attackers. 

“Ry…?” Michael asked, his voice tired and confused.

“Hush.” Ryan rocked him gently, not wanting to startle the boy. “Go back to sleep Michael.”

As he fired his gun, Ryan started to sing, hoping that a lullaby would help Michael to relax.

 _“Just close your eyes._  
The sun is going down.  
You’ll be alright.  
No one can hurt you now.  
Come morning light.  
You and I’ll be safe and sound.”  
  
Ryan managed to kill the man with the rocket launcher, but there was still a group of heavily armed men approaching the building. 

 _“Don’t you dare look out your window, darling._  
Everything’s on fire.  
The war outside our door keeps raging on.  
Hold onto this lullaby.  
Even when the music’s gone.  
Gone.”  
  
Ryan methodically fired at the men, making sure not to waste any bullets. He didn’t want to move for fear of waking Michael. 

 _“Just close your eyes._  
The sun is going down.  
You’ll be alright.  
No one can hurt you now.  
Come morning light.  
You and I’ll be safe and sound.”  
  
It didn’t take long for Michael to fall asleep again. Once Ryan had dispatched with the last of the attackers, he tucked Michael back into bed before calling Geoff. “We may have a problem.” He stated as he carefully closed the door to the Lads room behind him. 


	58. Doctors And Nurses

“Please don’t leave me.” Ray gripped at Ryan's’ chest, shaking him. “You can’t!” 

“Rye.” Gavin squeaked sadly. 

“I’m sorry. He’s dead.” Michael stated in a cold and clinical voice, he wore one of Ryan’s dress shirts as a Doctors lab coat. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and the bottom of the shirt trailed across the floor.

“I’m gonna miss him.” Gavin patted Ray on the shoulder. 

Suddenly, Ryan jolted up, sitting with his arms outstretched. “Braaaaaaains.”

“Oh no! He’s turned into a zombie!!!” Michael gasped dramatically. 

Ryan got to his feet, slowly chasing the giggling lads around the room.It wasn’t long before Gavin ran head first into a table, sending a lamp flying through the room. It crashed against the wall, shattering. "Um.. somebody broke that!” Gavin panicked.

Ryan smiled reassuringly. “Stay on the couch while I sweep up the glass, okay? I’ll talk to Geoff and make sure he knows it was an accident.”

“Then can we keep playing Doctors and Zombies?” Ray asked.

“Sure thing buddy.”


	59. Home Alone 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Guns

Geoff sighed with relief as they stepped of their plane. They were spending the week in Miami and he couldn’t wait to relax. He had been looking forward to this holiday for months.

Guiding their little group to the baggage claim, Geoff grabbed the first bag, which was marked with various bear stickers. 

Geoff passed it to Jack. “Give this to Michael.”

Jack passed it to Ryan. “Give this to Michael for me? Thanks.”

Ryan passed it down to Gavin. “Give this to Michael.”

Gavin passed it to Ray. “This is Micoo’s.” 

Ray turned to pass the bag to Michael, but no-one was there. “He’s not here.” He said as he passed it back to Gavin.

Gavin pulled at Ryan’s jacket to get his attention. “Micoo isn’t here.” He said as he passed the bag back.

“Michael’s not here.” Ryan sighed as he passed the bag to Jack.

“…Geoff. Michael’s not here.” Jack stated quietly.

“….FUCK!” Geoff exclaimed. “Not again!” 

Meanwhile Michael looked up at the Statue of Liberty, a determined look on his face. “It’s okay. This is just New York. I’m from Jersey. I can handle this.” He told himself as he headed towards the nearest hotel. 

Luckily for Michael, Geoff had asked him to keep a hold of his backpack before they boarding the plane. Which meant that Michael had Geoff’s wallet. He managed to use Geoff’s ID and wallet to pay for the most expensive suite in the hotel. 

He spent the next day exploring the city. He excitedly searched the toy store, buying gifts for Ray and Gavin. 

“Where did you get all that money?”  The man behind the till asked with a bemused smile. 

“…I have a lot of grandmothers.” Michael improvised as he stuffed a handful of bills into the collection tin for the Childrens Hospital. 

* * *

“Hey.” Lawrence tapped James to get his attention, they had been wandering around the toy store for an hour now, planning out their latest heist. “Isn’t that one of the Fake AH brats?” 

“Oh shit. It is!” James gasped, the Fake AH Crew had quite the reputation, but the Funhaus Crew had a personal vendetta to settle. The last time they had gone head to head, the Vagabond had killed Kovic and Bruce. “Let’s grab him.”

Lawrence grabbed James shoulder. “Let’s get him outside, you know, where there are no security cameras.”

“Good idea.” James smirked, exiting the building to wait for Michael. 

“Hello Son.” Lawrence’s hand clasped down on Michael’s shoulder as he passed them. Lawrence knew from past experience that he didn’t want to draw too much attention to themselves in public and normally kids would just go along with whatever. 

Michael however, wasn’t an average kid. “Who the fuck are you?”

“I’m a friend of Geoff’s.” He smiled as reassuringly as he could. “He sent us to pick you up.”

“Yeah? What’s the code word?” Michael folded his arms across his chest.

“Code word?”

“Get the fuck out of here.” Michael shook his head. “Geoff didn’t send you.” He turned to leave but James grabbed his wrist. 

“Listen here you little shit-”

Michael knew that he wasn’t strong enough to get away. So he did the only thing he could do. He screamed. 

Heads started to turned and James quickly let go of his arm, which gave Michael enough time to run away. 

* * *

Lawrence and James spent the rest of their day hunting Michael down. They eventually found which suite he was staying in and broke in around midnight. 

The plan was simple, grab the kid then take him back to their headquarters. Having one of the Fake Ah kids would be great leverage in the future. 

They soon spotted Michael asleep on the king sized bed. There were two other boys in bed with him as well. 

“Jackpot.” James gasped when he realised all three of the Fake AH kids were there. 

“Where did they come from..?” Lawrence wondered. At that moment a gun was pointed to his temple. 

“I’m going to need you to back the fuck up away from my sons.” Geoff snarled. 

“Shit.” James raised his own gun but it was too late, the Vagabond was already stood behind him. 

“I’d shoot you right now, but I don’t want to wake the lads up.” The voice behind the mask stated. “So we’re going to take a little trip up to the roof.” He explained, firmly shoving James out of the door, Geoff followed along with Lawrence while Jack looked over the sleeping lads.

“No-one threatens our boys and lives.” 


	60. Puppy Power

Days out with the lads had a tenancy to be hectic beyond belief. Either the boys would disappear (they were curious and liked to explore), someone would get hurt (the Lads were also notoriously clumsy) or Geoff and Jack would run into old enemies. 

Geoff was determined to make this weekend different. They desperately needed some calm, stress free fun. 

So Jack packed a picnic for the family and they all headed to the local park. Their new puppy came along too and the boys spend most of their time playing fetch with Kain. 

Michael had spent most of the previous night hidden under the covers of his bed, playing his DS. So it wasn’t long before he was totally exhausted. He slipped away from the group and sat against a tree. He slowly drifted off to sleep, still leaning against the bark. 

After a short while, Kain noticed that Michael had gone missing and abandoned Gavin and Ray in order to find him. Finding the boy asleep, Kain curled up at Michael’s side, resting his chin on Michael’s leg contently. 

A short while later, when Ryan headed to the tree to collect Michael, he spotted a strange man walking towards the sleeping child. Ryan narrowed his eyes angrily and sped up. But before he could reach the man, Kain jumped to attention. Barking loudly he raced towards the intruder, biting his leg. 

Ryan smirked as he watched the man race off, limping. “Good boy.” He petted Kain gratefully and picked Michael up. Even Kains barking hadn’t woken the sleeping Lad. “Come on boy. Time to go home.”


	61. Panic Stations

After Jack had put the three lads to bed, she knocked on Ryan’s door and peeked her head through to check on the teen.

She found Ryan furiously scribbling in his notebook, his desk covered in text-books.

“You okay Ry…?” She asked tentatively.

“Of course I’m not okay! Do you have any idea how many projects I have to hand in this week? Plus I have five exams next week. Five! With no time whatsoever to revise for them. And then there’s crew related stuff. Babysitting. Two independent hacking jobs. There’s just not enough time!” 

“Hey. Look at me—just breathe, okay?” She gently placed a hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “It’s alright. You have us to help you out. We don’t have any heists coming up soon. I can get Kdin or Trevor to babysit for us. And Geoff and I can help with school work. Alright?”

Ryan said nothing.

“Do you want me to leave?” Jack offered. 

Ryan shook his head.

Jack hugged the teen. “We’re your family Ryan, you can rely on us to help when you need it.”

“Thanks Jack…” Ryan sighed in relief.


	62. Gavin's History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Car crash

The first time Geoff put Gavin in a car, the boy quickly became very visibly nervous. He fidgeted in his seat, his eyes dashing around, staring wide eyes at any passing car. He even started mumbled to himself, too low for Geoff to hear what he was saying.

“Okay.” Geoff started, keeping his eyes on the road. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothin’.” Gavin answered quickly. His body language disagreed. 

“Gavin.”

“I just… I don’t like cars, okay?”

“You don’t?” Geoff arched an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with cars?”

“Well…. well sometimes they kill people. Don’t they?” 

“Sometimes. But it’s not the cars themselves that kill people. It’s the idiots behind the wheel that cause the crashes.”

“My dad wasn’t an idiot!” Gavin yelled, his face turning red.

Geoff paused before pulling the car over, parking at the side of the road. He turned to give Gavin his full attention. “What happened buddy?” 

“….It was raining. Like, a lot. We could barely see out of the windows. My mam was saying something about dad being on the wrong side of the road. They were arguing with each other because they couldn’t really see what side they were on… Then I heard a lorry horn. You know? The really loud ones? Then we went flying… There was fire. Lot’s of it… Then an ambulance came and took me away. But not my parents… I got no other family here. So they were gonna send me to some home or something. But I didn’t like the sound of that…. So I left.” 

“…How long were you on the streets for?” Geoff asked. It was the first time Gavin had offered any information about his past.

“A while… I don’t know. All my cuts and bruises healed up. So it must have been a long time…” 

“It’s okay Gav.” Geoff assured him as he undid the boys seat-belt and pulled him into a hug. “I’m a great driver. I promise. We won’t do anything dangerous at all. Cross my heart.” 

It took a long time to get Gavin used to being in the car. Sunday driving helped. The only time Gavin seemed to be upset was when they passed a crashed car on the side of the road. Geoff quickly sped passed it. Ray, noticing the other boys discomfort, passed Gavin his Tuxedo Mask doll. 

“Tuxedo Mask will keep you safe.” Ray assured him with a firm nod.

Eventually Gavin grew out of his fear of cars. He never drove himself, he didn’t want that responsibility. But he trusted the rest of his family to be safe.


	63. Gavin's Birthday

Geoff job was to distract Gavin with a trip to the park (they were walking Kain, the ever enthusiastic puppy) while Jack and the boys went on a shopping trip to hunt down presents for Gavin. 

Jack tried to get as much British food as he could, figuring that Gavin would enjoy the little tribute to his homeland. His basket was filled with scones, bake-well tarts and everything he needed to make a classic ‘fish and chips’. He had even managed to find a birthday cake featuring the union jack. All that was left was the presents. 

Michael and Ray had spent the whole day arguing over who was going to get Gavin the best present. Their argument escalated by the time they had gotten to the toy section of the store and it wasn’t long before they grabbed the toy guns from the shelves to shoot each other with. 

While Jack tried his best to control the boys (he didn’t want to be kicked out of the store before he’d had a chance to pay for everything) Ryan threw a selection of toys into the basket. He selected a variety of kids science toys, figuring that Gavin would be interested in the experimental side of things. He found a little lab coat and threw it in the basket as well. 

“Come on.” He said, looking at the boys. “Grab something and let’s go.”

Michael chose a baseball bat,which Jack quickly vetoed and replaced with a child friendly spongy bat. Ray picked up a book on science. “Gavins a nerd.” He reasoned as he passed the book up to Jack.

Jack chuckled in response. “Come on, let’s go. We don’t want to be late for the surprise party.”


	64. Sticks And Stones

Gavin and Michael dealt with pain in very different ways. 

Gavin very rarely got sick or seriously hurt. But when he did, it was the end of the world. His right wrist was bound in a thick cast, held close to his chest by a sling. Tears filled his eyes as soon at the slightest discomfort. It felt like it would never heal. 

Michael had shattered his elbow. The cast took up his whole arm and was similarly held in place by a sling. Michael didn’t care at all about the cast. He just wanted to go out and play like normal. He wasn’t going to let a stupid little thing like a broken arm get in his way.

“You know, not many kids over the age of one get this fracture.” Ryan stated as he adjusted Michael’s sling, making it more comfortable around his neck.

“Why’s that?” Michael asked curiously.

“Because most kids over that age are smart enough to put their hands out when they fall. You know? So they don’t smash their elbow into the ground.”

Michael pouted in response. “It’s not my fault Gavin pushed me off the damn tree!” 

“I was falling!” Gavin protested. “I had to grab something!” 

“You shoulda grabbed the bloody tree!” Michael yelled. “Not me!” 

“Can I sign your cast?” Ray asked, pen already in his hand. 

“Sure.” Michael lifted his arm for Ray, who quickly drew Pikachu.

“…You’re supposed to sign your name.” Ryan pointed out with an amused smile.

“This is cooler.” Ray informed him seriously. “Gavin gimmie your arm.”

“…Can you draw Birdo?” Gavin sniffed, still upset that Michael had yelled at him.

Ray smiled, drawing the character across Gavins cast. “There ya go.” Ray beamed, proud of his handiwork. 

“Can we go to the park Ry?” Michael asked.

“No can do.” Ryan shook his head. “You’re on house arrest until you heal up. Which means movies, pizza and ice cream.” Ryan informed him in a serious tone. “Think you can handle that?”

“….I suppose. But we’re watching Treasure Planet first!” Michael announced, running to the living room. 

“Micoo! Wait for me.” Gavin raced after the boy.

“…Am I on house arrest too?” Ray asked.

“I’m afraid so Buddy.”

“Nice.” Ray nodded, following behind his injured brothers.


	65. Boys will be boys

The little girl was in tears. Her hair was a mess, half pulled out of the tight ponytail she normally wore it in.

Michael was a curious child, so he wandered over to find out what was happening. 

“And then-.. And then he pulled my hair.” The girl whimpered as she recalled the events to the teachers assistant.

“Well Kate, you know what boys are like.” The assistant replied cheerfully. “It’s just means that he likes you.”

“Well that’s fuckin’ dumb.” Michael interjected. 

“Michael!” The woman gasped, shocked by his language.

“Well it is! You don’t hit the people ya like. You hurt the people you don’t like. It’s simple.”

“I’ll be calling your dad to tell him about your terrible language Michael.” She warned him.

“Yeah, yeah. Good luck lady.” Michael rolled his eyes, he held the young girls hand and dragged her away for privacy. “Point him out to me and I’ll beat him up for ya.” 

\---

Luckily, the teachers call arrived after Michael had explained what had happened to their guardians. Jack was proud of her little lad for standing up for his classmate, even if his methods had been a bit violent, so Jack volunteered to take the call.

“Well.” She started, trying not to sound too sarcastic. “You know what boys are like. Maybe Michael just likes the boy he pushed over.” 

“Mr Pattillo, you can’t be-”

“Ms Pattillo.” Jack corrected. truthfully, she didn’t mind what title people gave him. She just wanted to rattle the assistant. “Have the parents of the boy who bullied Kate been informed of his actions.”

“Well no, Michael-”

“Stood up for his friend. That’s all.” Jack interrupted. “Listen, I hear your concerns and Michael will be punished appropriately. Goodbye.” She turned to Michael as she hung up, passing him a bowl of ice cream. “Here’s your punishment.”


	66. Lemonade

One of Geoff’s secret pastimes was watching documentaries about the development of young children. He found them fascinating and was normally comforted by the fact that it wasn’t just his kids that were weird. Despite their less than ideal backgrounds and weird home life, Geoff found that his boys were surprisingly similar to the kids he saw in the documentaries. The main difference was that his boys swore a lot more, but he only had himself to blame for that. 

The latest episode Geoff watching included the “lemonade test”, which was a test of children’s empathy. Basically, a small amount of salt was put into homemade lemonade and the children were asked what they thought. In the documentary, the girls featured were very positive about the lemonade, lying to make their teacher feel better. Whereas the boys were brutally honest about how terrible it tasted. Geoff was curious to see how his lads would react, so he decided to conduct his own experiment. 

He gave his concoction to Ray first, emphasising that he has put a lot of time into making it specially for the boys. Ray took a sip of the drink, put it down and went back to his game. 

“….So?” Geoff prompted. “What do you think?”

Ray just shrugged in response, eyes glued to the screen in front of him.

Geoff sighed and moved onto his next test subject. “Now Gav, I’ve worked very hard making this and I want to know what you think. Honest opinions only. Okay Buddy?”

Gavin nodded, eagerly gulping down the lemonade. His face immediately twisted, reacting to the disgusting mixture. “…It’s great Geoff.” Gavin informed him, passing Geoff the glass back. “I just don’t want any more, okay? I’ve drank a lot today.” 

Geoff chuckled and passed Gavin a chocolate bar. “How about this instead?”

“Thanks Geoff!”

Geoff smiled warmly and moved onto his final victim. Like Gavin, Michael took a large gulp of the drink. He blinked for a moment as he lowered the glass from his lips. He looked up, meeting Geoff’s eyes. “That’s fucking disgusting.” Michael informed him simply.

“So you don’t want anymore?” Geoff fake gasped. 

“Hell no.” Michael replied, pulling Geoff towards the kitchen. “I’ll show you how to make it right.” 

Geoff laughed, thoroughly amused by his little experiment. “You got it Kid.”


	67. Tea Party

A few days after Gavin moved in, the small boy went over to Geoff, tugging his jeans.

“Can I have a cuppa please?”

“… You what?”

“… A cuppa.” Gavin repeated patiently.

“A cup of what?!”

“Tea!” 

“Oh! Right. Sure thing Dodger.”Geoff winked and headed to the fridge. He grabbed a jar of tea, placed a twirly straw in it and passed it to Gavin.

“…What’s this?” Gavin asked suspiciously.

“It’s tea.” Geoff explained, baffled by the conversation.

“No it isn’t!” Gavin protested, passing the jar back to Geoff.

“But this is Sun Tea.” Geoff continued to explain. “That’s the best kind of tea!”

Jack chuckled, taking the jar from Geoffs hands. “He’s British Geoff. He has his tea warm.” Jack poured the tea into a mug and put it in the microwave. 

Gavin watched with horrified eyes. “That’s not how you tea! Where the heck is your kettle?”

“We don’t have one.” Jack explained.

“Why not?!” Gavin replied. He was getting frustrated, tears started to prick at his eyes.

Jack, sensing that something deeper was going on, picked Gavin up and hugged the little lad. “It’s okay.”

“No it’s not!” Gavin sniffed. Tea had always been integral to his family’s routine. His parents would always make a pot of tea in the morning for breakfast and his mother would pour him a cup (though Gavins was mostly filled with milk and sugar). He had hoped to re-live that now that he had a proper home again. But everything just felt wrong and alien. He buried his head into Jacks shoulder. 

“Hey Dodger, look!” Geoff stood behind Jack, showing Gavin his phone screen. “I’m buying a kettle right now! How’s this one?”

Gavin paused, considering the screen. “It has to be a black one.”

“Why’s that?”

“I don’t know, they just always are.” Gavin explained, speaking entirely from personal experience.

“Okay.” Geoff nodded, adding one to his virtual shopping basket. “What else do I need?” 

“…Tea bags.”

“What brand?”

“…. I don’t know the name.”

“Would you recognise the logo?” Jack suggested.

“Yeah!” Gavin responded, he could picture the box very clearly in his mothers hands. 

Geoff scrolled through pages of tea bags until they finally spotted one that Gavin recognised. “Okay, I’m paying extra for quick delivery, so we should be able to make you some British tea tomorrow, okay?”

Gavin wiped his eyes, a small smile on his face. “Thanks Geoff.”


	68. Safety First

"Can I hold your hand?" Gavin asked quietly. 

“...What?” Ryan responded with a bemused expression. He was taking the three lads out for ice cream and Gavin's request seemed to come from nowhere.

“Well... When you cross the street, you’re supposed to hold the grown ups hand. For safety!”

“...You think I’m a grown up?” Ryan chuckled.

“Well, you’re a lot more grown than we are!” Gavin explained. “So can I?”

“Sure buddy.” Ryan assented, offering his hand. 

Gavin happily grabbed Ryan's hand, swinging it cheerfully. Ray, having watched the whole exchange, picked up his pace and claimed Ryan's remaining hand.

“..Hey! What about me?” Michael complained loudly. 

“Well I don’t have enough hands.” Ryan explained patiently. 

“Well what if we have to cross the road Ryan?!” Michael demanded.

“Yeah!” Gavin chimed in, tugging on Ryan arm. “It’s not safe!”

Ryan considered his option for a moment before crouching down. “Climb on.” He stated, offering Michael a piggy back.

“That’s more like it.” Michael beamed, scrambling onto Ryan’s back. 

“Hold tight okay? I’ve got no hands to catch you if you fall.”

“Yeah yeah.” Michael agreed dismissively. “Now lets go!”


	69. Sibling Rivalry

“I’m not going to apologise!” Michael’s voice could be heard from the kitchen, he sounded tired and irritated. “Not anymore!”

Ryan sighed, put his book down and made his way into the kitchen to find Gavin and Michael bickering. 

“What’s going on?” He sighed, not really wanting to get involved. 

“Michael broke my camera!” Gavin cried.

“It was an accident! I hit his hand and it flew out! That’s not my fault.”

“It’s your fault Micoo! You break everything!”

“I do not!!” Michael protested, offended.

“You do!!” Gavin whined in response.

“It’s a real shame nobody asked for your opinion.” Michael snapped angrily. 

Ryan was genuinely surprised by the argument. The boys had always gotten along perfectly. This was the first time they had showed any kind of aggression to each other.

“Gavin. I can fix your camera. Michael, you’re in time out for breaking it. Go sit in the naughty corner for ten minutes.”

“But-!”

“No more arguments.” Ryan stated firmly. “Go on.”

Michael huffed, stomping all the way to the ‘naughty corner’; a corner of the living room which Geoff had decorated with signs reading “Only losers sit here” and “Fort Asshole”. 

Ryan helped Gavin pick up the remains of his camera.

“I’m not mad really.” Gavin confided in Ryan quietly. “But he’s gotta stop breaking everything. I don’t want Geoff to get mad at us…”

“He won’t.” Ryan assured him gently. “Accidents happen. And that’s okay. Everything can be fixed or replaced.”

“Even my camera?”

The camera in question was a disposable camera which had cost Jack a grand total of a dollar at a gas station. “Yeah Buddy. I think we can afford a new one.”


	70. Fathers Day

Jack helped the lads to prepare for Fathers day.

Geoff was treated to breakfast in bed (the toast was burnt and the coffee had expired milk in it, but the lads had tried their best) and he was gifted with new books that the Lads had picked out based on how bad-ass the covers looked.

The real surprise came at lunch time though, when a ring off the doorbell announced the presence of Geoffs girlfriend, Griffon.

“The boys called her up and asked her to come visit you.” Jack smiled, knowing how much Geoff missed Griffon when she was gone. “Go on, have fun. I’ll watch the boys.”

Geoff beamed with excitement, hugging his family before heading off on a meal with Griffon, leaving Jack alone with the three boys.

“….Jack?” Gavin started in his usual, curious tone.

“What is it Gavin?”

“Are you our dad too? Or our mom?”

“I’m whatever you want me to be.” He explained with a gentle smile.

“Oh… Can you be our mom? Because I forgot to get you anything for Fathers Day.”

Jack laughed. “Sure thing Gavin.”

“What about Ry?”

“What about him?”

“Well, he’s kind of like our dad too? Isn’t he?”

“I’d say he’s more like a big brother.”

“Oh, is there a Brothers Day?”

“I’m pretty sure there’s a siblings day?”

“Can we get Ry presents for it?”

“Naturally.” Jack smiled fondly. 

“That’s good.” Gavin wrapped his arms around Jack. “Happy Fathers Day.”


	71. It's Raining Men

“Hey Ryan…” Ray started, pulling at the sleeve of Ryan’s jacket. "What happened to the sky? Where did all the blue go?”

“What do you mean?” Ryan asked, looking up to find dark grey cloud in the sky.

“They’re just clouds, ya dope.” Gavin explained. “They’re there all the time in England.”

“Where did the sun go?” Ray asked, concerned.

“It’s just behind the clouds Buddy.” Ryan explained gently, realising that the boy had no memory of life before Ryan found him, so naturally wouldn’t know some simple facts of life.

“Huh…” Ray nodded. “Will it come back?”

“Of course.” Ryan replied as it started to rain. The rain was thick and heavy, soaking them instantly. “… Let’s get inside.” Ryan suggested, ushering the boys into the public library for cover. 

Ray winced as thunder rattled through the air. “What the fuck?” He whispered quietly to himself. 

“It’s just a storm.” Ryan reassured him. “Nothing to worry about. Come on, let’s go find some books to read until it passes.”

Michael groaned. “I think I might starve to death before this ends.” 

Ryan laughed. “I’ll get you something from the vending machine, okay?”

“Deal!” Michael beamed, running off to follow his brothers down the aisles.


	72. By The Seaside

Geoff had learned from experience.

The lads were going away on a trip with school. And Geoff wasn’t leaving them alone for one second. Their track record with getting lost when on vacation was too risky. He couldn’t take any chances. 

Geoff was going to be a school chaperone. 

The class was going to the beach for the weekend in an attempt to learn about various forms of sea life. 

Geoff thought it was pretty ridiculous that they had to stay over night in a hotel, since the beach was only a short car ride away from his penthouse. But the lads were excited, so he didn’t complain. 

The bus ride, however, was torture. 

The kids were loud and out of control. And his three boys were the worst of the bunch. Geoff almost felt sorry for their teacher. The woman seemed to be keeping her cool but her teaching assistant seemed more interested in checking her phone than attempting to control the rabble. 

“Why couldn’t we just drive here? Your car is cooler than this dumb bus.” Michael complained loudly.

“Life is a highway, and I’m always drunk. So I’m not driving.” Geoff answered vaguely, chuckling as he drank from his hip-flask. He had drastically cut down the amount of alcohol he drank since he adopted the boys, but he still allowed himself some every now and again in stressful situations. And this was certainly stressful. 

The second the got off the bus, Gavin started to complain.

“It’s too hot Geoff.” He pouted, stepping back into the shade of the bus. 

“Are you kidding? This is cool weather for Los Santos.” Geoff chuckled, putting his sunglasses on. 

“But I’m not from Los Santos!” Gavin whined. 

Geoff remembered about the stereotypes about British weather being cloudy and raining all of the time and realised that Gavin had probably never experienced heat like this. 

“I think jack packed you some stuff…” Geoff dug through the bag, finding sun screen, a sun-hat and a cooler full of cold drinks. 

Once Gavin was fully equipped to deal with the sun, Geoff let the boys (and the rest of their class) loose on the beach. 

Their teacher, Miss Le Page, had gathered them into a small huddle and was telling them a range of interesting facts about ocean life. Geoff watched the kids faces light up as they heard all about Great White Sharks. 

The only child who didn’t seem invested was Michael, who was too distracted by the little girl to his right. She had pushed her way through the huddle to sit next to him, and was sitting far too close for Michael’s comfort. When her fingers started twirling in the curls of his hair, Michael snapped. He punched her in the stomach. 

Geoff grabbed Michael’s arm, pulling him away while the teaching assistant fussed over the crying girl. 

“What the hell?”

“She was annoying me!” Michael explained in an exasperated tone. 

“You can’t hit girls buddy.”

“Why not? I hit boys if they annoy me.” 

“You just can’t, okay?” Geoff struggled to explain. “The rules are just different.”

“But why?!” Michael demanded.

“Just-” Geoff huffed in frustration. “Just don’t hit girls okay?”

Michael rolled his eyes. 

“If you don’t behave, I’m taking you to the hotel for time out.”

“Fine! But if she touched me again I’m knocking her out.” Michael stormed off, sitting between Gavin and Ray so he wouldn’t be harassed. 

When they finally returned to the hotel for the day, Gavin was sun burnt, Michael was in an irritable mood, and Ray has already climbed into the bed, worn out from a long day of social interaction. 

Geoff sat in their hotel room, contently watching the three boys sleep in the hotel bed. He was distracted from his thoughts when his phone rang.

“Hey Jack, what’s up?”

“…. This is going to sound dumb.”

“I love dumb things. Go for it.” 

“I had a nightmare about you and I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.” Jack admitted quietly.

Geoff was stunned for a moment before a soft smile crossed his face. |”I’m fine. We’re all okay. Well. Gavin is sun burnt and Michael has anger management issues. But, you know, the usual.”

“That’s great.” Jack sighed with relief. “The place is really quiet without you all.”

“You miiiiiiss us.” Geoff beamed. 

Jack didn’t reply. 

“You’re so cute when you pout like that.” Geoff laughed.

“Shut up and hurry home.”

“You got it.” Geoff smiled. “Gotta go. Early start in the morning.”


	73. Zip Ties 101

Gavin was sat at the kitchen counter with Trevor, who was helping the little Lad with his homework. While they worked, Geoff walked in with the mail, sorting through it next to them. 

“… Who the hell sent me a box of zip ties?” He wondered aloud. 

“What’s a zip-tie?” Gavin asked curiously, homework already forgotten. 

“Just something they use to tie things up.” Geoff explained, showing him the contents of the box.

“Do you know how to break out of those?” Jack asked, sipping her coffee.

Geoff nodded. “… Let’s show Gavin how to get out of them.”

“Why?” Gavin questioned.

“In case anyone ever uses them to tie you up.” Geoff explained. He grabbed Trevor’s wrists, wrapping a zip tie around them.

“If you’re doing the explanation, how come your tying up my wrists?” Trevor asked, mildly amused.

“I’ll do the verbal explanation, you can do the physical demonstration.” Geoff explained as he tightened. “So just bring your elbows out and hit your stomach with your wrists.”

“…Is this a trick?” Trevor asked suspiciously.

“Why would I trick you?” 

“Because, I’ll punch myself in the stomach and you’ll think it’s hilarious!”

“No I won’t.” Geoff assured him.

“I might.” Gavin interjected.

“Just do it.” Geoff rolled his eyes. “It’s like a Chinese finger trap. Once you know how to do it it’s easy.”

“Just keep your elbows up and don’t punch yourself in the dick.” Jack coached, miming the action. 

Trevor took a deep breath before hitting his stomach. The zip tie snapped and instantly fell away. “Would you look at that.” He sighed in relief.

“That was wicked!” Gavin gasped. “I want to try!” He grinned excitedly. 

Normally, Geoff would say that it was a terrible idea. But given how dangerous being close to the Fake AH Crew could be, it was probably worth teaching the lads safety tips whenever he could. “Okay buddy.” He nodded, tying Gavin’s little hands together. “Now, break out like Trevor did.” 

“You got it Geoff!” Gavin beamed, ramming his wrists against his stomach. “Oof!” He exhaled as the impact hit him. The zip ties remained intact. 

“Not quite.” Geoff winced as Gavin repeated the action.

The small boy sat on the floor, sheer concentration evident on his face. He tried a few more times before looking up at Geoff, a bright twinkle in his eye. “I need fire.”

“No you do not!” Geoff countered. “Just do it my way.”

“No, no! I can do it! Ryan?!” Gavin yelled.

“What?” Ryan asked, coming out of the kitchen. 

“Can I borrow a knife?”

Ryan took a moment to take in the bizarre situation. “Sure thing.” He nodded, pulling a knife out of his pocket.

“You carry those all the time?” Trevor questioned with an amused smile.

“I’m like a boy scout.” Ryan explained, passing the knife to Gavin. “Always prepared.”

Gavin carefully balanced the knife in his hands, trying to saw through the zip ties by balancing the knife between his feet. 

“Why don’t you show him how its done?” Trevor suggested, binding Ryan’s hands with a zip tie.

Without breaking eye contact, Ryan pulled his hands back, instantly snapping the zip ties. 

“… Impressive.” Trevor admitted. He glanced down to see how Gavin was doing. “Is that a battle axe?”

“A mini battle axe.” Jack corrected.

“We have all kinds of weapons stashed everywhere.” Ryan explained with a chuckle.

“Seems safe.” Trevor laughed. 

“Just do it the right way, Dumbass.” Geoff folded his arms across his chest.

“I almost got it!” Gavin protested. 

“You’re going to hurt yourself that way.” Trevor added, scared that he would need to call Caleb, the crews medic.

Ryan sat on the floor next to Gavin, repeating the actions to him. “You need to make a wedge that pushes it this way. See?” 

Gavin tried again. “I can’t do it!” He complained, lifting his arms up for Geoff to remove the zip ties.

“No way kid. You gotta learn how to do this. What if this was a kidnapping? You’d be fucked.” 

“Here, I’ll weaken it a little, you can work your way up to it.” Ryan explained, sawing half way through the zip ties. 

Gavin pulled his hands to his chest, laughing excitedly as the zip tie broke again. “I did it!”

“Good job buddy.” Geoff patted Gavin’s shoulder.

“Can I try again?” 

Geoff looked down at deep red marks circling Gavin’s wrists. “…. when those heal up you can.”


	74. Counting Sheep

Gavin was roughly woken up by a pair of small hands which shook his shoulders.

“Guh.” He gasped, still half asleep. “What-?” Gavin was sweating, his small heart racing in his chest. 

“You had a nightmare.” Michael explained, knelt next to Gavin on his bed. “Tell me what it was about so I can fix it.” 

“I don’t remember…” Gavin admitted, his breathing still quick and rapid. “I never remember.”

“You never remember your dreams?” Michael asked, arching an eyebrow.

“No… It’s that weird?” Gavin asked self-consciously. 

“…Kinda.” Michael chuckled. “Move over.” He lightly pushed Gavin out of his way so he could lie down next to the boy. “I’ll sleep here, just in case it happens again.”

Gavin smiled sleepily, pulling the blanket up to cover them both. “Night Micoo.”

“Night Gav.”


	75. The Graduate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Competition prize for itzyaboihenry on tumblr

“Look at you. All grown up and graduating High School. Why I can’t wait to-”

Ryan promptly cut Geoff off. “You can’t come.” He stated simply as he pulled his jacket on, readying to leave to penthouse.

“Why not?!” Geoff moaned.

“Because, my parents will be there. And if they see a group of criminals cheering for me, they’re going to get suspicious.”

“I’ll stay cool!”

“No. You won’t. You won’t be able to contain yourself.”

“He does have a point, Geoff.” Jack admitted.

“Traitor.” Geoff muttered under his breath.

“I’ll see you guys after graduation okay? I’ll ditch my parents and come straight here.”

“Okay.” Geoff pouted as Ryan exited their home. “It’s not fair.” He complained to Jack. “We’re the ones who helped him with him homework! We made sure he got to school one time! We’re the ones who helped him apply for college!”

“I know Geoff.” Jack pulled Geoff into a comforting hug. “… How about we throw him a party to celebrate?”

Geoffs eyes lit up. “Yes!”

While Jack ordered pizza, Geoff and the lads decorated the penthouse. They pulled out boxes of decorations with the intent to the place look as jazzy as possible.

“…Gavin, those are Christmas decorations.” Geoff pointed out as he spotted Gavin draping tinsel over the sofa. 

“Yeah!” Gavin grinned. “It looks pretty, doesn’t it?”

“Pretty lame.” Michael commented as he pulled a plastic jack o’lantern out of the box.

“…That’s a Halloween decoration.” Geoff pointed out.

“Yeah! It’s Ryans favourite holiday.” Michael argued. “He loves skulls and junk.”

Geoff sighed. “Fine, get it all out.” 

After two hours of work, the penthouse was fully decorated with congratulations banners, balloons, tinsel, fairy lights and jack o’lanterns. The lads wore glittering party hats and Jack baked a cake ready for Ryan’s arrival. When the pizza arrived and Geoff realised that Trevor, who had done a few jobs with the crew in the past, was the pizza boy, he pulled the teen in, demanding that Trevor help them to celebrate Ryans graduation. 

Trevor complained that his boss would be mad, but didn’t really care as he had planned to quit soon anyway. Getting into the spirit of the celebration, he grabbed a few small confetti cannons and used his scientific expertise to rig them to explode as soon as the door was opened. He then disturbed glitter bombs to the lads so that they had something to burst open too. 

After an tense waiting period, the door finally opened. Confetti rained down from the ceiling, glitter was blasted through the air, and there was a chorus of “Congratulations”, “Happy Graduation” and one somewhat confused “Happy Hanukkah” from Ray who hadn’t really been paying attention when the Lads had been told what they were celebrating. Geoff realised in hindsight that they should have rehearsed what they were going to say before the door was opened, but it was too late for do-overs. 

Ryan stood silently in the doorway for a moment, blinking the glitter out of his eyes. “…Thanks guys.” He laughed, crouching down to hug the three little Lads who had ran over to greet him.

“So!” Geoff beamed. “How did it go?” 

“It was alright.” Ryan shrugged as he stood, brushing the confetti off his shoulders. “My valedictorian speech was a bit shaky. But other than that, everything was fine.”

“You were valedictorian?!” Geoff gasped.

“Nerd.” Trevor commented with a joking smile.

“Said the literal rocket scientist.” Ryan responded as he blew glitter towards Trevor.

“Come on.” Jack patted Ryan on the back. “You can tell us all about it while we eat the pizza.” 

“Deal.” Ryan smiled genuinely as he followed his family into the kitchen to continue their party. He had always hated the parties thrown by his parents; impersonal and lavish affairs that had more to do with their reputation and image than him. He much preferred the small celebrations hosted by Jack and Geoff; they felt like how a real family should celebrate their achievements and Ryan enjoyed every second of it.


	76. Candy Man

“Geoff, can I get some sweets?” Gavin asked, tugging on the bottom of Geoff’s jacket.

Geoff had quickly stopped by a convenience store to restock the penthouse and Gavin was the only little Lad who had wanted to come along for the chore. Geoff now realised that his intentions were solely motivated by candy and not a desire to be helpful.

“Sure thing kid.” Geoff responded, emptying the chance from his pocket and handing it to Gavin.

Gavin beamed as he was handed the coins. “How much is this?”

“... What do you mean how much is it? Count it up.”

“..... I don’t understand American money.” Gavin responded simply.

“What?”

“It makes no sense!” Gavin complained. “They’re all weird sizes and don’t mean anything.”

“...What are you on about? It means money!”

“But in England it gets bigger or a different colour as it’s worth more. This is gibberish!” 

Geoff sighed. “Look. This ones a Quarter. That’s a quarter of a dollar. 25 cents. The smallest one there? That’s a dime. That’s worth 10 cents. Nickles are 5 cents. You need a hundred cents to make a dollar. Got it?” 

“.... Yes.” Gavin replied unconvincingly. He nodded and moved away from Geoff heading to the counter where the employee was stood waiting. Gavin stretched up onto his tip toes and dumped all of the change onto the counter. “How much candy can I get for this?” 

Geoff brought his hand to cover his face, not sure if he should laugh or cry at the situation.


	77. Camp Brigade Part One

“There’s no-one who can baby-sit them?” Geoff complained loudly as he paced the kitchen floor.

“Not for the full week. Everyone my age has exams. And everyone your age you need for the heist.” Ryan explained, lounging against the kitchen counter and Diet Coke in hand. 

“Then what do we do? We can’t take them with us! It’s too dangerous.” 

“Well…” Jack started, digging some leaflets out of a kitchen drawer. “It is the summer. Why don’t we send them to camp?” 

The bus ride from Los Santos was long and dull.

“Isn’t it lucky that all of the camps are in the same place?” Gavin beamed, rolling up the sleeves of the new lab coat Jack had bought for him. “I can’t wait to see what science camp is like.” 

“They told me I was going to ninja camp.” Michael huffed, folding his arms across his chest. “But I saw the paperwork. I know it’s anger management.”

“What camp did you get signed up to Ray?”

“Computer camp or some junk.” Ray shrugged, not really interested in what was happening. 

“Hey, do you think the bus driver is going to kill us?” Michael asked casually.

“Why would you say that?” Gavin gasped. 

“Just look at him! He’s the bad guy from like every horror film ever!”

The bus abruptly screeched to a halt. Gavin squeaked in panic. 

“New kids are here.” The bus driver stated as the doors opened. 

Michael led the way to the front of the bus, where they were greeted by an overly enthusiastic camp counsellor and a small kid, about Michael’s age, whos hands were stuffed into the pockets of his blue hoodie.

“Good Morning Campers!” The man sung chirpily.

“I already hate this.” Michael muttered under his breath. 

“We’re almost ready to take you into Camp Campbell, I just need to collect some paperwork from our Quarter Master here.” He explained, gesturing to the bus driver. “In the meantime, Max can tell you all about the camp!”

The man pushed the hooded camper towards the lads before moving away to sort through their paperwork.

“Do you guys know how to drive?” Max asked in hushed tones.

“Well yeah, of course.” Michael nodded.

“Get in the bus.” Max pushed them back into the yellow school bus.

“What?” Gavin squawked. “Why?”

“Trust me, you don’t want to stay in this shitty camp. We’ll be better off in the forest. Lets just go!” 

Michael grinned, sensing the opportunity for some mischief. “Ray, Gav, get the gas pedals. I’ll steer.”

“You always get to steer.” Gavin pouted. 

“Because I’m the tallest.” Michael explained. “Now lets go, go, go!”

Gavin crouched down and slammed his hands against the gas pedal, lurching the car forwards.

“What way we going?” Michael asked, hands firmly gripping the steering wheel.

“There’s like one path!” Max replied. “Just follow it!”

The boys didn’t get far. Michael had glanced away from the road for a second to talk to Max, and the bonnet of the bus collided into something hard. Gavin and Ray bumped into each other as the bus jolted, and Max fell to the floor.

“What the fuck was that?” Max yelled, rubbing his arm as he got to his feet. 

“No clue.” Michael jumped down from the drivers seat and opened the door to check out what had happened. “There’s nothing here!” He yelled to the others as he investigated the scene.

“Not anymore.” Max stated, pointing out some large paw prints in the dirt. “But we’ve either hurt it bad or reeeeeally pissed it off.”

“What was it?” Ray asked anxiously.

“A bear probably. Judging by the tracks. Big one too.” 

“Uh….guys.” Gavin interrupted as he watched the bus start to roll away.

“You didn’t use the brake?!” Max yelled at Michael as he ran after the bus.

“That was Ray’s job!” Michael protested.

“I’m sorry, I was too distracted by the fact that we CRASHED INTO A FUCKING BEAR.”

“Aw shit.” Max stopped as he realised where they were in the forest. “We’re screwed.” He stated as he watched the bus roll down to the edge of a cliff, plummeting to the ground.

The boys watched as the bus exploded into a ball of fire on impact.

“That was pretty awesome.” Ray commented.

“….It shouldn’t have done that.” Gavin stated, perplexed. 

“Quarter Master stores all kinds of weird shit in there.” Max shrugged. “Wouldn’t surprise me if there were all sorts of combustables in there.”

“So now what do now?” Michael asked, kicking a stone over the edge of the cliff.

“Walk to town I guess. Try to get a ride from there.” Max put his hands into his pockets and started to walk into the forest.

“You know the way, right?” Gavin asked, following nervously.

“Eh, I have a rough idea.” 

“We’re going to die in the fucking forest.” Michael muttered to himself as he followed the group.


	78. Camp Brigade: Part Two

“Nature sucks.” Michael pouted as he kicked a rock.

“You’re telling me.” Max rolled his eyes. “I’ve been here weeks. Maybe months. Who knows?! It feels like an eternity.” 

“So what camp are you here for?” Gavin asked, trying to remain cheerful during their directionless trek through the forest.”Science Camp?”

“No.” Max replied, his voice tense.

“Computer Camp?”

“No.”

“Oh! I got it! Anger management camp. Like Micoo. Right?”

“I’m here because my parents don’t give a crap.” Max shrugged. “That’s all.”

“That’s terrible…. We’re just here for a week. Because our family is off on a heist.”

“…A heist?” Max repeated. 

“We’re a weird family.” Ray responded mysteriously. 

“Geoff adopted us all.” Gavin beamed.

“Yeah, I guessed you weren’t related.” Max smirked, gesturing to Ray whose skin tone stood out against Gavin and Michael’s.

Gavin laughed. “It’s nice though. We have Geoff and Jack, they’re like our parents. Then Ryan is like our big brother.”

“Must be nice.” Max stated, forging the path ahead.

“So what’s your family like?” Gavin pressed, ignorant of Max’s disdain for the subject.

“Ass-holes.” 

“I hear that.” Michael nodded knowingly.

“You just said that they’re great.” Max argued.

“Yeah, my family NOW is great. But before, they were real crappy people.” 

“… Yeah?” Max looked across at him.

“Oh yeah. My old man would hit me around a lot. Mom wouldn’t say anything because she didn’t want to piss him off.”

“My parents aren’t like that…” Max replied quietly. “They just, couldn’t care less, you know?”

“You can make a new family!” Gavin suggested. “Like we did, full of people who love you. They don’t have to be related.”

“Will you just… shut up? For a while.” Max came to a fork in the path and deliberated on which direction he should pick.

“….We’re lost. Aren’t we?” Ray asked.

“No! Shut up! … Maybe.” Max admitted.

The lads groaned in unison.

“This shit is hard!” Max yelled in reply. “The forest looks exactly the same from all angles. We could be anywhere.”

“We’re going to get eaten by a bear.” Ray sighed as they started to follow the path Max had chosen.


	79. Camp Brigade: Part Three

The young boys walked until the sun started to set. Gavin started to get nervous, clinging to Michael’s arm for comfort.

“…We should probably camp here.” Max admitted reluctantly. “If we start a fire or something, it’ll scare anything that might be stalking us away.”

“Like what?” Gavin whimpered.

“Like the fucking bear we ran over with a bus, what do you think?” Max snapped in response. 

“Do you know how to set a camp up?” Ray asked.

Max let out a small noise of contempt. “Camping is literally all I do.” He rolled his eyes and started collecting materials to build a makeshift fort. “Anyone got a light?” He asked, gesturing to the small pile of kindling he had bundled into a makeshift bonfire.

“Here.” Gavin responded, taking a lighter out of the pockets of his lab-coat.

“Uh, why do you have that?” Michael questioned.

“Sometimes science requires fire.” Gavin shrugged. “Dan got me it.”

Max swiped the lighter from Gavin’s hand’s and lit his bonfire.”Great. Now all we need to do is survive the night and find the way to town in the morning when it’s light again.”

“Easier said than done.” Michael rolled his eyes, incredibly bitter that Ryan had confiscated his pocketknife before the boys had left for camp. This was the perfect situation for a pocketknife. “Let’s just get some sleep.” He stated, heading into the makeshift shelter.

Michael made sure that he was sat at the entrance of their shelter, so that anything that wanted to attack them had to go through him before it could get to his brothers or their new friend Max.

As the others slept, Gavin tossed and turned. Eventually he sat up, surprised to find that Michael was wide awake, keeping a watch over the forest. “… Hey Micoo?” 

“Yeah Gav?”

“…. We’re not really going to get eaten by bears, right?” 

“Of course not.” Michael smiled reassuringly. “I wouldn’t let any bears touch you.” He explained bravely.

“Thanks Micoo… Get some sleep. Don’t stay on guard all night.” 

“Don’t tell me what to do.” Michael pouted, turning away to watch the bonfire.

Eventually, in the warm glow of the fire, Michael fell asleep.


	80. Camp Brigade: Part Four

Max woke early in the morning to find Michael still sat guard at the entrance to their hand crafted base.The boy was looking down at the phone in his hands, a serious expression on his face.

Moving over to sit next to Michael, Max gestured to the phone. “What’s up?”

“I wish we had reception.” Michael pouted, putting his phone away in the pocket of his jacket. “If Geoff and Jack knew that we were missing they’d take a helicopter here and come find us.”

“They would?” Max arched an eyebrow. “That’s a bit dramatic, don’t you think?”

“Maybe.” Michael admitted. “But that’s what family is for. When you’re lost, they come find you.”

Max sneered. “My parents wouldn’t get off their asses if they knew I was lost in the woods. Hell, they’ve probably forgotten what hell-hole camp they sent me to. I wouldn’t be surprised if they forget to come pick me up at the end of the summer.” 

“…That’s really sad.” 

“Welcome to my life.”

“My old family was kind of like that. More violent. But yeah, I get it. You just have to make yourself a new family.”

“Not everyone can run off and start a new family okay!” Max snapped. “And that’s fine, I’m used to it. No-one looking for me. No-ones going to come fine me!”

Before Michael could respond, a large shadow was cast over the campsite. Its arms outstretched towards the boys.

“It’s the fucking bear!” Michael yelled, waking his brothers up.

Max jumped to his feet, ready to run.

“Max?” A voice called out to them.

David appeared in front of them. The man looked exhausted, his clothes were torn from the branches of the forest and dirt was smeared across his skin.

Michael realised that the Camp Counsellor must have been up all night looking for them.

David ran forwards and picked Max up, hugging him tightly. “Max!! I was so worried about you! Are you boys okay?”

“Put me down David!” Max demanded. 

David reluctantly complied. “Did anyone get hurt? How did you find this shelter?”

“I made it. Duh.” Max responded.

Davids eyes went wide with excitement. “Oh Max! I knew you were paying attention in your survival lessons! This is the perfect shelter!” 

“Will you shut up!” Max seemed surprisingly embarrassed by the praise. 

“Can we go back to the camp now?” Gavin asked, yawning. 

“Of course. Come on kids! Back to Camp Campbell!”

David and Max lead the way. David talked to Max with a hyper energy despite his obvious exhaustion. He was clearly thrilled to find the boy safe and sound.

Michael smiled to himself as he watched them walk together. Max’s family may suck. But at least he could always rely on David to come find him when he was in trouble. And as far as Michael was concerned, that was so much more important than sharing blood.


	81. The First Christmas (Part One)

It was the Lad’s first Christmas with their new family, and Geoff and Jack were determined to make it special.

Christmas Eve was spent bundled up on the couch in new pyjamas and a fluffy blanket. Jack kept them supplied with a steady stream of hot cocoa and cookies to fuel them as Geoff introduced them to Christmas classics.

Ryan’s parents had opted to go on a cruise over the festive period, which left him free to spend the holiday with his real family. He sat on an armchair near the boys, answering any questions they had about the films. 

“Why’s it in black and white?” Michael complained loudly.

“Because that’s how films were made back then.” Ryan explained as they watched the opening to It’s A Wonderful Life.

“Yeah!” Gavin chimed in. “Like in ancient times.”

“TV was like that when I was a kid.” Geoff clarified. 

“Yeah.” Ray nodded. “Ancient times.” 

“I’ll stick my ancient foot up your ass.” Geoff muttered under his breath, clearly pouting.

\---

The boys went to bed early that night, promising to go to sleep straight away so that they could wake up bright and early in the morning.

Jack kissed each of the boys foreheads and gently closed the door of their shared bedroom behind him.

As soon as the door was closed, Michael bolted up and grabbed a flash light from under his bed.

“This is it.” He grinned, speaking in a low whisper so that they wouldn’t be heard. “This is the year I’m finally going to catch that red bastard!”


	82. The First Christmas (Part Two)

As Gavin and Michael prepared to catch Santa in the act, Ray buried himself in his blankets, hiding his face in his pillow. “I’m not going.” He stated, his voice muffled. “I’m tired and I don’t want to be on the naughty list.”

“That’s fine.” Michael shrugged. “We won’t need help.”

“What have you got against Santa anyway?” Gavin questioned as he dug out night vision googles from his toy drawer. “He’s a jolly guy who gives you free presents! What’s not to love?”

“He’s fucking creepy.” Michel objected. “An old dude breaks into everyone's houses once a year and watched kids sleep. He’s a perv.” 

“He’s a good guy.” Gavin protested, his voice whining. 

“If he’s so fucking good then why did he hit my mom?” Michael scowled, grabbing a baseball bat. 

“He what?!” Gavin's eyes went wide in shock. “Santa wouldn't...”

“I saw him. Last year I stayed up late to see him and he came in all drunk and punched my mom. Just like my dad.” Michael glared. “He’s not going to touch my family this year. I can protect everyone.” He stated, in a determined tone of voice.

“I’ll help Micoo!” Gavin assured him. “We’ll make Santa pay!”


	83. The First Christmas (Part Three)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I run a writing challenge based on the Orphan Brigade universe on tumblr, and this months theme is Christmas! Be sure to check it out and send me your writing if you're interested :)

Geoff was trying his hardest not to giggle as he tip-toed around the penthouse.

He knew that the boys would stay up late to catch a peek at Santa, all kids did. And Michael had been very careful about putting the milk and cookies is a clear line of sight from their bedroom door. His boys were crafty, there was no denying that. But he was two steps ahead and knew exactly what they had planned. 

So Geoff donned a bright red Santa suit, strapped a pillow to his stomach and disguised his face with a fluffy white beard. It was one of his favourite parts of having the boys around, all of the traditions that they could incorporate to keep the magic of the season alive for the lads. 

Geoff grinned as he heard Michael and Gavin whispering conspiratorially from behind the door of the boys room. He watched as the door slowly cracked open and two set of eyes appeared, surveying the room.

Fully in character, Geoff laughed with a carefree jolly-ness and took a big swig of the milk (which had become room temperature after being left out in the open for so long) and turned with his back away from the door so they wouldn’t see him struggle to eat the cookie through the fake beard. 

A feeling a Christmas joy swept through Geoff and he was so giddily happy right up to the moment that a baseball bat connected with the back of his knee.


	84. The First Christmas (Part Four)

“Holy Shit!” Geoff exclaimed as the bat came into contact with his leg. His knee bent painfully and he dropped to the floor.

“Take that you jolly fuck.” Michael sneered, kicking Geoff’s pillowed stomach.

“What on earth is going on?” Jack appeared at the doorway,dressed in pyjamas and holding a gun which she quickly concealed when she realised that it was just the boys. 

“We’re making Santa pay!” Gavin smiled, he still wasn’t 100% on board with beating up Santa, but it was important to Michael. So it was important to him too.

Jack rushed over to Geoffs side, gesturing for Michael to move out of the way. “This isn’t Santa.” 

“What are you talking about?” Michael rolled his eye. “Look at him.” 

Jack pulled the fake beard from Geoffs face. “You okay?”

Geoff hissed. “I’ve been better.” He admitted through gritted teeth. 

“…Geoff?” Gavin squeaked.

“Geoff was just…. helping Santa out.” Jack explained as she supported Geoff’s weigh and helped him to his feet.”It’s a busy time of year. So Geoff offered to do the apartment block for him.”

Gavin gasped, excitement lighting up his eyes. “Geoff knows Santa.”

“So he can tell me how to get to the North Pole and kick Santa’s ass.” Michael added, blinded by his desire for revenge.

“Why do you want to hurt Santa?” Jack asked as calmly as she could as she rolled Geoff’s trouser leg up to see the damage. It had already started to bruise, the skin had turned a nasty shade of purple.

“Because last year he broke into my house drunk and hit my mom.” Michael scowled, still holding his baseball bat with a tight grip.

“…Oh sweetheart.” Jack sighed. “That wasn’t Santa. Santa’s too nice to do anything like that.”

“I knew it!” Gavin beamed.

“So who did?” Michael snapped.

“It’s … like how Geoff is dressed up like Santa now to help him out. I think your dad did the same last year.” 

“….Oh.” Michael dropped the bat. 

“It’s okay sweetheart.” She smiled softly as she propped Geoffs leg up on the coffee table to keep it elevated. 

“I hurt Geoff…” 

Jack nodded. “You did. And you’ll be punished for that. But after Christmas. Okay?” 

“I’m sorry.” Michael stated, tears in his eyes as he run up to the sofa to hug Geoff.

“That’s okay kiddo.” Geoff smiled thinly as he wrapped his arms around Michael. “But I’m confiscating that bat.” 

“I deserve that.” Michael agreed.

“Will Geoff be okay?” Gavin asked, starting to tear up too.

“Of course he will.” Jack picked up the little lad. “I’m going to put some ice on it when you two go to bed, then he’ll be good as new in the morning. Promise.” She glanced over at the clock on the wall just as it hit midnight. “Merry Christmas boys.”


	85. Birthday Blues

They had forgotten.

Gavin couldn’t help but be disappointed. Rationally, he knew that he shouldn’t expect them to remember. He’d only lived with them for six months. But he had told Jack and Geoff his birthday. He assumed that they had asked for a reason.

But no. When he woke up, the day carried on as normal. He had breakfast, went to school with Michael and Ray, went home and watched cartoons until dinner time. 

Gavin pouted, stabbing at his meal with his plastic fork.

“Whats wrong kiddo?” Geoff asked.

“Nuffin.” Gavin responded, ramming mashed potatoes into his mouth.

“… Come on Buddy.” Geoff coaxed. “Tell me whats up.”

“…You all forgot.”

“What did we forget?” Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

“My birthday! You forgot my birthday!”

“We didn’t-”

“Yes you did!” Gavin interrupted before Jack had a chance to reply. “I know that my birthday is 143 days into the year! And that’s today! So you forgot all about it!” He yelled, tears in his eyes. 

Geoff paused for a moment before he started to laugh. He knew it wasn’t exactly an appropriate response. Placing his hand over his mouth, he turned away from the three children who were staring up at him with perplexed expressions.

“Gavin.” Jack stated gently. “Your birthday is tomorrow.”

“No way! I counted the days!”

“Did you count the extra day in February?”

“….The what?”

“It’s a leap year.” Jack explained. “That means there’s one more day added on to February. It happens every four years.”

“Oh….. We don’t have that in England.” Gavin explained, lying to avoid potential embarrassment. “…. So my birthday’s tomorrow?”

“Yes.” Jack assured him. “And there’s going to be presents, and cake, and balloons, and Ryan is coming over to celebrate too.”

“Oh. Brilliant. Thank you.” Gavin beamed as he finished off the rest of his dinner in a content peace. Suddenly eager to get to bed so that tomorrow would come sooner.


	86. Camp Brigade: Epilogue

“You guys got a letter.” Geoff informed the lads as he flicked through the post. 

Gavin and Michael scrambled off to couch excitedly, pushing each other out of the way in order to get to the letter first.

Michael snatched the letter out of Geoffs hands, gloated for a moment, and then passed the letter over to Gavin since he could read much better than Michael.

“It’s from Max!” Gavin grinned excitedly.

“Who’s Max?” Geoff asked.

“Our friend from camp.” Michael responded. “Duh.”

“The one who helped you steal a bus?”

“That’s the one.” Michael nodded, proud of their escapades in the woods. 

Gavin's eyes quickly scanned the page and he gasped. “Max’s parents never came to pick him up...” Gavin read from the letter, his face betraying how upset he was about the situation.

“What?!” Michael yelled, astounded. 

“It says right here!” Gavin showed him. “At the end of summer, when everyone elses parents came.... His didn’t show up.”

“Geoff! We have to go get him!” Michael yelled, searching for Geoff’s car keys.

“He’s not at the camp now ya dope.” Gavin responded, still reading the letter.

“Well where is he then?” Michael snapped.

“He’s staying with the counsellor.”

“Which one?”

“David. You know the really happy guy?”

“Huh... Well... Geoff can you help us write letters back to him?”

“Of course I can buddy.”

Ray, Gavin and Michael each wrote Max a long letter about what they had been up to since camp. Geoff meanwhile wrote out a cheque for the counsellor David. He knew how difficult it could be to take in kids and wanted to make sure that he had the means to look after Max. 

“How long until we get a letter back?” Gavin asked as they posted the stuffed envelope. 

“No idea kid.” Geoff replied. “But I bet Max will be real happy to hear from you guys.” He assured Gavin, a gentle smile on his face. “Now come on, you have homework to do.”

Gavin moaned dramatically, but happily followed Geoff back up to the penthouse. He hoped that Max’s new home and family was just as good as his.


	87. Charades

Michael had been feeling rotten all week. Jack had told him that it was just a cold, but the illness was really wearing Michael down. He had no energy to run around or play with his brothers. All he could do was lie in bed miserably, either playing games or watching TV. Which sounded ideal in theory, but the illness really sucked the joy out of everything. 

Then one day he woke up and went down to breakfast as normal. When he opened his mouth to talk to Geoff, nothing came out but a ragged rasp. 

Michael paused.

He cleared his throat and tried again.

Still nothing. Michael couldn’t form coherent words. 

“…You alright Buddy?” Geoff asked, arching an eyebrow.

Michael squeaked in response.

“Micoo! Are you okay?” Gavin gasped. 

“He’s lost his voice.” Jack explained, patting Michael on the back comfortingly. “I’ll make you some tea and honey. That might help.” 

Michael groaned, already hating his inability to form replies.

“You can talk with charades!” Gavin suggested excitedly. “Say something and I’ll guess what it is.”

Michael showed Gavin his middle finger.

“Micoo!” Gavin chastised, gasping dramatically. 

“This’ll be fun.” Geoff commented, half sarcastically, as he watched the boys attempt a one sided conversation.


	88. Back To School

Getting the Lads prepared for school was always a nightmare. Mostly due to the fact that the Lads weren’t interested in attending. They would much rather stay home and play video games.

Ryan, Jack and Geoff drew straws to see who would be the unfortunate soul who had to take the Lads Back-to-School shopping. 

“Shit...” Ryan muttered to himself as he realised that he had chosen the short straw.

“Good luck buddy.” Geoff laughed, patting Ryan on the back before making a quick exit.

“I have a list of all the stuff they’ll need.” Jack explained, passing Ryan a list of supplies and enough money to cover the expenses. “It’ll be fine.”

“Don’t lie to me Jack.” Ryan responded in monotone as he left the room to tell the boys the news.


	89. Back To School (Part Two)

Ryan looked at the list in his hands, then down at the boys who were waiting impatiently. They had just arrived at the mall and the lads were already bored.

Boredom was dangerous for the lads. That’s when they caused the most trouble. 

“….Okay. So here’s what we’re going to do. Whoever finds an item on my list first gets a point. Whoever gets the most points at the end of the day gets a prize.”

The lads eyes lit up.

“What kind of prize?” Gavin asked excitedly. 

“You’ll have to find out.” Ryan gave the boys a mysterious smile and ushered them into the first store.

“Right.” He grabbed a basket. “First item is rulers. I need three rulers.”

The boys bolted off, each picking a different aisle to hunt for the desired object.

Ryan smiled to himself, proud of his strategy. This was the first time he’d ever seen the boys eager to shop.

The only downside with his plan was that the boys were split up and would constantly disappear out of sight. 

Ryan wasn’t too worried though.The lads were smart. They knew not to wander too far away and to retrace their steps if they got lost. Ryan trusted them so didn’t worry too much about keeping a constant eye on them.

Every time an item was dropped into his basket, Ryan used his old-timey announcer voice to award points, making the lads giggle. 

“And Ray pulls ahead in points with his discovery of three, that’s right three, shiny new pencil cases!” He announced dramatically, checking his list to see what else they needed.

After a few moments he realised that it had been a while since Gavin had earned any points. 

In fact, it had been about ten minutes since he had last seen the boy.

Now Ryan was worried.

“Well?” Ray looked up inquisitively. “Whats the next one?”

“… Gavin.” Ryan responded, taking Ray by the hand. “We need to find your brothers.

Michael was found almost instantly. Straining to reach some pencil cases from a shelf far higher than his little arms allowed him to reach. He was swearing under his breath as he struggled. 

“I already got those.” Ray boasted.

“Have you seen Gavin?” Ryan asked.

“Nope. He went that way to find the pens before?” Michael pointed down the aisle.

“Hold Rays hand.” Ryan told him. “Don’t let go okay?”

Michel pouted, upset that the game was apparently over. “Fine.” 

“He has to be nearby..” Ryan said, mostly to himself, as they searched the aisles. “Maybe Geoff is right, we should get tracking chips for you guys.”

“Like you put in dogs?” Michael asked.

“Exactly.” Ryan nodded, glancing around for any sign of their tiny Brit. 

He scowled as he spotted Gavin’s backpack near the entrance of the store. Ryan knew exactly what had happened. 

Someone had kidnapped Gavin.


	90. Back To School (Part Three)

Ryan had to hand it to him, Gavin knew exactly what to do in an emergency. 

After finding Gavin’s backpack near the entrance to the store, he soon spotted one of Gavin’s shoes by the water fountain. This was followed by a friendship bracelet that Gavin always wore around his wrist (he had made ones for Michael and Ray but they never wore them. Michael kept his in a box of precious things and Ray had his looped around a strap of his backpack).

One thing became very clear to Ryan, Gavin was leaving a trail. Like Hansel and Gretel leaving their trail of breadcrumbs.

As they walked, Michael picked up anything that belonged to Gavin and stashed it away in his backpack for safekeeping, determined to give the items back to their rightful owner. 

They eventually came to an apartment block, Ryan glanced up at the towering building. There was so many rooms, he had no idea where he would even start.

“Hey Ryan!” A voice broke Ryan out of his quiet contemplation.

He spun around to find Trevor looking at him with a cheerful smile. 

“Trevor? Perfect.” Ryan placed a hand on Trevor’s shoulder. “This is important. I need you to take the boys home. Don’t stop for anything. If anyone you don’t know tries to stop you, just keep walking and call Geoff or Jack. Okay?”

“What’s going on…?” Trevor asked tentatively. “Where’s Gavin?”

“I’m going to go find him. But I need you to look after Michael and Ray. Can you do that for me?”

“Um, yeah! Of course!” Trevor nodded adamantly.

“Do you have a weapon?” 

“I don’t exactly carry weapons around with me all the time.”

Ryan pulled out a flick-blade from his pocket. “This is the best I have right now. Take it. Just in case.” He pressed the knife into Trevor’s hand.

“No way!” Michael yelled. “I’m going to help get Gav too!”

Ryan knelt in front of Michael. “I know you want to help him. But trust me, this is the best thing we can do right now.” Ryan reached into his bag and pulled out his trusty black skull mask. “I’m going to get him back.”


	91. Back To School (Part Four)

Trevor was way out of his depth.

He was used to baby-sitting the lads. He did it all the time when Ryan was busy with school, family or heists. That part was easy.

But clearly something terrible was happening.

He had no idea what had happened. But Gavin was missing, Ryan was shaken, and the remaining lads clearly didn’t want to talk about it. 

Trevor had never known Michael be so silent. Frankly it was a little jarring. 

Ryan’s warning rang in Trevor’s head as they walked. Trust no-one.

Trevor had never been much of a fighter, but he certainly wasn’t going to let anyone hurt the boys. He kept one hand in his jacket, his fist curled around the knife Ryan had given him.

He glanced down at Michael, realising that the boy was carrying two backpacks. “Do you want some help with that?” He offered.

“No!” Michael shook his head adamantly, clutching the backpack to his chest.

Before Trevor had a chance to respond, a fist crashed across his jaw, sending him to the ground. 

He opened his eyes to find a tall, burly man grabbing Ray by the hood of his jacket.

“Come here you little Twerp.” He rasped, his voice hoarse from years of smoke damage. 

Ray kicked at the mans shins and Michael launching himself on the mans other leg, punching and kicking. The series of blows probably would have caused a lot of damage if Michael had been taller than the mans hip. 

Trevor got his his feet. His legs were shaky and his ears were ringing. But he had a job to do. He had to protect the kids. 

He yanked out the knife from his pocket, flicking it so that the blade snapped out into place. “Let go of them.” He demanded.

The mans eyes fell on Trevor and he laughed. “How are you going to make me?” He asked with a sneer. “You’re not much bigger than these brats. And that knife is so small I could use it to cut my nails.”

“Let. Them. Go.” Trevor repeated, lifting the knife.

The man opened his mouth to respond, but a baseball bat crashed into his abdomen, knocking the wind from his lungs. 

Trevor looked over to find a teenage boy who he recognised from school. 

The boy looked over at Trevor with large, panicked eyes. “Run!” 

The student scooped up Ray as Trevor grabbed Michael and the pair sprinted away.

After a few blocks, Trevor slowed, totally out of breath. They were almost at the penthouse so he placed Michael back on the ground and leaned against the wall to catch his breath. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” The teen lowered Ray. “He looked like he was about to steal the kids… That is what was happening right? Or are you the kidnapper?”

Trevor laughed. “I’m the baby sitter. Thanks Man. You have no idea how much I appreciate it… Sorry, I can’t remember your name.”

“Alfredo.” The boy laughed. “Don’t worry about it though. I think we only have English together.” 

Michael pointed to the bat in Alfredo’s hands. “Why do you have that?”

“I’m on the baseball team.” He explained with a shrug. “Do you guys live close?”

“They’re just in that building there.” Trevor pointed. “Come on, Geoff will want to know everything that’s happened…”


	92. Back To School (Part Five)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Gun violence

Ryan was completely unarmed. 

He had (wrongfully) assumed that the shopping trip would be rather straight forward, so he had only brought the small flick knife which he carried at all times.

But he’d given that the Trevor, figuring that if someone was targeting the boys their guardian should be armed.And Trevor needed all the help he could get.

Ryan didn’t need a weapon. He could raise hell without one. 

The mask hid his face, but his body language radiated pure rage.

Gavin’s trail continued through the building. The last hint was a small patch of blood staining one of the doors. 

Without forming a plan or exit strategy, Ryan kicked the door down. The hinges snapped from the force and the wood crashed to the ground. 

One look was all Ryan needed. It was clearly a rival crew with a grudge against Geoff and Jack. Five men were stood in the room; one by the door way, two smoking by the window, and two on the couch talking to a clearly terrified Gavin.

Ryans fist come in contact with the face of the man by the door. Using the element of surprise to his advantage, he spun the man around, looking for a weapon. As he suspected, Ryan found a gun attached to the mans belt. He yanked it free from its holster.

“Ryan!” Gavin squeaked, his voice filled with panic.

“Close your eyes Gav.” Ryan demanded, raising the gun. 

Gavin squeezed his eyes shut and flinched every time a bang rang through the air. He counted every gun shot. After the tenth, everything went silent.


	93. Presidents Day

Gavin had the day off school, but he wasn’t entirely sure why. It was a Monday. So logically, he should be at school. But Geoff and Jack had let the lads lie in, and they hadn’t gotten dressed for school that morning.

In order to find out what was going on, he sought out Geoff and tugged at the mans arm to get his attention. “Why aren’t we at school?”

“It’s Presidents Day.” Geoff responded, sipping his coffee.

“Oh.” Gavin nodded as if he understood. “….What’s Presidents day?”

“It’s a national holiday.”

“Whats it for?”

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, like Christmas is Jesus’ birthday. And Easter is the Easter Bunnys birthday. You know?”

“I don’t… That’s not…” Geoff shook his head. “It’s Washingtons birthday.”

“So Washington was born February 19th?”

“No, the holiday is the third Monday of the month. I think his actual birthday is the 22nd of something.”

Gavin paused. “That’s not how birthdays work Geoff.”

“It’s just easier to do it that way. Means people get a long weekend off.”

“And why is it Presidents day if its just Washingtons birthday? There’s been lots of presidents.”

“Because he was the first.”

“Ah-ha… Geoff? Whens the Queens birthday?”

Geoff chuckled. “I don’t know buddy.”

“Can you look it up for me?” 

Geoff nodded and took out his phone to google on Gavins behalf. “….The Queen has two birthdays??” He read with a confused expression. 

Gavin gasped. “Was she born twice? Like Jesus?”

“Resurrection isn’t the same as being born twice.”

“My teacher said it was.” Gavin pouted.

“I gotta find you a better school then.” Geoff continued to read.”Her actual birthday is the 21st April. But her official one is in June because there’ll be better weather for the ceremony. Huh. England is weird.”

“America does the same thing! Washington has two birthdays too if you celebrate it on the wrong day!” 

“I guess so.” Geoff shrugged.

“Hey Geoff, can I have two birthdays?”

“No you can’t.” Geoff laughed.

“But we can do two! The day I was born and the day you took me in.” Gavin beamed.

“Go play with your brothers.” Geoff ushered Gavin out of the room.

Geoff paused for a minute, thinking it over. He texted Ryan and Jack hoping one of them would be able to remember the dates that he took the lads in. An anniversary celebration didn’t sound like a bad idea.


	94. Back To School (Part Six)

The room had gone silent. Gavin didn’t know who fired the bullets or where they had landed. He was far too scared to open his eyes to find out. He didn’t want to see Ryan hurt. Or worse.

“Keep you eyes closed Gav.” Ryans voice gently broke the silence, getting closer to him. “Don’t open them, okay?”

Gavin kept his eyes squeezed shut. “Okay.”

“Promise me?” Ryan asked as he picked Gavin up.

“Promise.” Gavin clung to Ryan, exhausted and frightened. 

As they exited the room, Gavin was tempted to take a look. One peek wouldn’t hurt. He just wanted to know what kind Ryan had done to his kidnappers.

Before the temptation could overwhelm him, Ryan gently placed a hand on the back of Gavins head, softly pressing the boy into his shoulder so that it was impossible for him to see anything. 

Ryan pulled off his mask and they quickly escaped the apartment building. Ryan started the walk back to the penthouse, keeping a soft grip on Gavin, not letting the boy out of his arms. 

“Hey Ryan…” Gavins voice was so quiet Ryan barely heard him.

“Yeah?”

“How many of the constellations do yo know?”

Ryan smiled gently, knowing that Gavin was just trying to distract them both. “Well, let’s see… There’s Andromeda, Antlia…” 

Ryan continued naming constellations until they reached home. Ryan left Gavin safe with his family, Jack and Geoff fussing over the lad while Michael and Ray asked him a million questions.

While they were distracted, Ryan snuck away and headed back to the store. He bought everything that the lads needed for school, teddy bears for each of them and a pack of glow in the dark stars. 

When he returned, he affixed the stars to the lads ceiling in secret, trying his best to recreate the constellations.

By the time bedtime arrived, Gavin was too scared to sleep, afraid that he would be taken again. 

He hugged his new teddy tightly and gasped in surprise as he rolled over and spotted the stars. Gavin quietly recited the list of constellations under his breath, as if he was counting sheep, and slowly fell asleep.


	95. Back To School (Epilogue)

It was the first day back.

Gavin was a little jittery from the events of the previous day, but otherwise okay. Luckily, both Michael and Ray were in his classes, which made him feel a lot safer.

During the course of the day, one of the students phones went missing. The teacher decided that the best way to find it would be to search through all of her students backpacks. She started with the usual troublemakers.

Nothing in Rays bag.

Nothing in Gavin's.

Her eyes went wide as she opened Michael's bag. “Michael... Why do you have this?” She asked, keeping the mystery item in the bag so the other students wouldn’t see.

Michael shrugged, oblivious to the thought that he might be in trouble. “Protection.”

“Get to the principals office! Now!” She demanded in a panicked tone. 

Michael rolled his eyes and slid off his seat to exit the classroom.

Gavin was nervous and tense for the rest of the afternoon, worried for Michael.

The school bell rang to indicate the end of the day, and Gavin and Ray rushed out to find Ryan stood with a pouting Michael.

“What happened?” Ray asked curiously.

“Michael here has been suspended for bringing a knife to school.” Ryan informed them.

“How was I supposed to know you’re not meant to do that?” Michael argued. 

“It’s common sense.” Ryan stated. “If you're going to go it, don’t get caught.”

“Why did you have a knife?” Gavin asked, wide-eyed.

“Well..” Michael shrugged. “If someone was going to try to take you again, I wanted to be able to fight him off. And I’m too small to hurt adults right now. So I needed a knife.”

Gavin pulled Michael into a hug.

Ray looked up at Ryan. “Have they kicked him out of school?”

“Just for a month.” Ryan explained. “Geoff will come by tomorrow, donate some money to the school, and get it knocked down to a week. Don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried. It means classes will be quiet while hes gone.”

“Hey!” Michael responded, still cuddling his boi.


	96. Career Day

“Geoff. I need you to come into school tomorrow.” Gavin informed him, tugging on Geoff’s sleeve persistently.

“You get in trouble with the principal again?”

“No! You have to talk to the whole class this time.” Gavin informed him.

“…..Why?” Geoff asked, his parental spidey senses tingling. 

“You’re supposed to go and tell them all about how you get money!”

Geoff stared down at Gavin, totally confused.

Ryan looked up from his book. “It’s career day Geoff.”

“Oh! …. Oh shit. What the fuck am I supposed to tell them?”

“That youre absolutely definitely not a crime boss?” Ryan suggested. 

“Good plan.” Geoff nodded, deep in thought. “I’ll have to make something up. Give myself a kick ass back story and a cool fake name.”

“You can’t give the school a fake name. They already know who you are.” Ryan pointed out.

“But the kids don’t!”

Ryan rolled his eyes and went back to reading his book. The was going to be a disaster he didn’t want to be involved in.


	97. Career Day Part Two

“Oh god, what are we going to do?” Geoff questioned, pacing up and down his office so much that Jack was vaguely concerned that he would wear down the carpet. 

“You could just not go?” Ryan suggested, leaning on Geoff’s mahogany desk. “My parents never went to that kind of thing.”

Geoff sighed. “No offence Ryan, but I want to be a better parent than that.”

“None taken. You had better come up with a good lie then.”

“Like what?” Geoff asked, desperately. 

“Bounty hunters?” Ryan arched an eyebrow questioningly.

Geoff waved a hand dismissively. “Too hard to explain to kids.“

Jacks lip twisted as she tried to come up with an idea that would help. “Bodyguards?” 

“Who would we say we guard?”

Ryan shrugged. “Just make someone up. What are the kids going to do? Fact check you?”

“Wait.” Jack grinned. “I’ve got the perfect idea.”

\---

“I can’t believe I got roped into this too.” Ryan hissed under his breath.

“Hush.” Geoff whispered as he watched another parent present to the class. He was slightly concerned that there was a member of the LSPD in front him, but the man hadn’t seemed to have noticed him. He was too engrossed in his presentation to notice the three notorious criminals watching him. He was clearly an excellent detective. 

“Thank you so much Bryan!” The teacher grinned as the class half heatedly applauded the police office. “And now we have Mr Ramsey and …Mrs?… Pattillo. Who look after Michael, Gavin and Ray!”

“If you’re all a family, how come they have different names?” One kid leaned over to question the lads, keeping his voice low so the teacher couldn’t hear them.

“You want me to knock your teeth out Bryce?” Michael hissed aggressively before his brothers could respond. 

Geoff grinned in front of the class. “Hey kids. I’m Geoff. Spelled G-E-O-F-F.” He explained, writing his name on the whiteboard. “If you spell it any other way, you’re an idiot.” 

“Tell them your middle name Geoff!” Michael shouted from his desk.

Geoff laughed. “My full name is Geoff Lazer Ramsey.”

“Lazer isn’t a name!” A girl in the front row responded critically.

“Listen, when you’re an adult you can make your name whatever the fu- … whatever you want.” 

The girl gasped. “Like Princess?”

“Or Batman?!” Another boy asked.

“Yeah, sure.” Geoff shrugged. “Who cares? Anyway! This is Jack. She’s the boys guardian too.”

“I thought Jack was a boys name.” One boy interjected.

“It is. But it can be a girls name too.”

“Just like Jack.” Gavin beamed. “She can be a boy AND a girl.”

The teacher cleared her throat. “I think we’re getting a bit off track.” 

Geoff shrugged. “If anyone has any questions about me or Jack you can ask us at the end or you can come see us in the school yard whenever we pick the boys up.”

“Any questions at all?”

Jack laughed. “Of course.”

“Why don’t you tell the class what it is you both do for a living?” The teacher suggested, derailing the conversation.

“Jack and I run a pretty cool group called the Fakes. And we are…. stuntmen!” He announced grandly.


	98. Shark Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Inspired by Josh Sundquist)

“Don’t stare!” Geoff heard a mother hiss at her child. So naturally he turned to look at whatever it was the kid had been staring at. 

He scanned the playground and could only assume that the woman had been referring to the man with only one leg, who was using crutches to walk. The parents in the playground gave him a wide berth and pulled their children away, instructing them not to stare.

Geoff had always like to do the opposite of the crowd, so he walked straight over to talk to the guy. “How’s it going?”

The man looked across at Geoff, a flicker of a smile on his lips. “Alright. I have the suspicion they think I’m some kind of leper.” 

Geoff laughed. “Heaven forbid their children catch it.”

“I do hear that amputated legs can be quite contagious.”

Geoff laughed. “I’m Geoff. It’s nice to meet ya.”

The man smiled at him. “Richard. Richard Heffington.”

“Nice to meet you Dick. Can I call you Dick?”

“I’d rather you-”

“Anyway Dick. How many kids you got?”

Richard laughed, more than used to people shortening his name for a laugh. “Just my daughter. You?”

“Three boys.” Geoff boasted, beaming.

“Must be a handful.” Richard commented.

“Eh. Sometimes, but they’re worth it.”

“Geoff!” A voice called out as Gavin ran towards them. Gavin froze in his tracks, gasping dramatically. “That mans leg fell off!” 

“Hey!” Michael raced over to stand next to Gavin. “How did your leg fall off??”

Geoff covered his face with his palm. “Legs don’t ‘fall’ off guys.”

“Then how do you explain why he only has one, Geoff?” Michael challenged.

“I’m so sorry about this.” Geoff groaned. 

Richard just laughed. “It’s fine. It happens all the time.” He assured Geoff. “I’m more than used to it.” 

“That must be so sad…. You can’t play football” Gavin commented, thinking about how he had spend his lunch break playing football with Michael.

“He means soccer.” Michael interjected. “Ignore him, he’s british.”

“Oh I can absolutely play soccer.” The man laughed. “I do every weekend with other amputees. Have you ever played foosball? We look like that.”

The boys watched in amazement as Richard lifted himself up, putting his full weight on his crutches, and kicked his leg out. Miming how he would kick a ball.

“Woah!” Michael grinned, thoroughly impressed. 

“Hey dad!” A little red-headed girl ran over, excited to see that her father was talking to another parent. 

“Your dad is so cool!” Gavin beamed.

“Yeah! Did he tell you how he lost his leg?? It was a shark!” She announced proudly.

As the children chased each other around, pretending to be sharks, Geoff leaned closer to Richard, talking low so the kids wouldn’t hear them. “Shark attack huh?”

“Easier to explain than cancer.” Richard shrugged. “Plus kids think I’m way cooler when they think I can take on a shark.”

Geoff laughed. “I like your style Dick.”


	99. Career Day (Part Three)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: (Fake) guns

Gavin tilted his head at the announcement. Even though he had been warned about what Jack and Geoff were going to tell the class, he was still confused by it. “But I thought you were criminals?”

Geoff could feel the eyes of the LSPD officer fall onto him. He started to sweat. “That’s just in movies.” He fake laughed.

“I’ve never seen you in a film.” Bryce yelled from his seat.

“That’s the whole point of stuntmen.” Jack explained with a smile, much better at lying than Geoff was. 

“How can you be a stunt man if you’re a girl?” One young girl asked, sounding genuinely interested.

Jack chuckled. “Stunt person is probably a better term for it. We make sure that the big actors don’t get hurt by doing all of the dangerous stuff for them.” 

Bryce gestured to the phone in his hands. “You’re not listed in any movie.”

“We do foreign films.” Jack replied instantly.

“Yeah!” Geoff smirked as the teacher swiped the phone from Bryce’s desk. “You’ll have to check the french internet to find us.”

“I don’t think-”

“Anyway!” Geoff clapped, cutting him off. “We’re going to do a little demonstration about how we make movies!” 

As they talked, Ryan started to unpack the suitcases they had brought with them. 

“Who wants to go first?” Geoff asked, laughing as Ray, Michael and Gavin’s hands shot up. He gestured for the boys to come up to the front of the class.

“Okay, so this is an action movie! You’re the bad guys, ready to do a big heist!”

“What are we stealing?” Michael asked.

“Diamonds.”

“Do you have any diamonds?”

“No. But I do have candy bars. And anyone who successfully steals one in a heist gets to keep it.”

The class was suddenly a lot more interested in the presentation. 

“We’ll do this in groups of three so that everyone can have a turn.” Geoff took a handful of candy from his bag and dumped it onto the teachers desk.

“Step one of the heist is always the set up. First things first, you have to wear a disguise.” Geoff pulled out masks from his bag and started handing them out to the kids, who laughed at his odd selection. “Why do we have to do this?” He asked them in his best impersonation of a teacher. 

“Because it’s funny?” One student asked.

“To protect your identity.” Ray responded, surprising the class who very rarely heard him speak.

“That’s right.” Jack smiled enthusiastically. 

“If people like Officer Bryan over there saw your face during a heist you’d be totally fu-… in a lot of trouble.” Geoff corrected himself mid sentence. 

The teacher glanced across to the door as another faculty member was waving to get her attention. “I’ll be right back.” She nodded, leaving the room. 

“So Ray, you’re the sniper.” Geoff explained, passing Ray a NERF gun. “And Michael and Gavin will be our robbers.” He passed smaller fake guns to the lads. 

Ray walked to the back of the room and climbed up a storage cabinet. 

“What are you doing?” Ryan asked, looking up with an amused expression.

“You gotta be high up to snipe things. Duh.” Ray explained simply. 

“So I’m going to be the simple business man. Running my store.” Geoff explained as Jack walked over to sit next to the LSPD office, whispering in his ear.

“So there you go boys. Set up is all done. Now you just have to figure out a way to take-” As Geoff spoke, Michael raised his NERF weapon and shot Geoff, hitting the centre of his forehead. Geoff blinked, totally thrown by the abrupt attack.

“Now you’re dead.” Michael informed him. “Gavin grab the candy!”

Gavin ran back to grab his backpack and quickly filled it up with as much candy as it could hold.

“Well that was easy.” Michael gloated.

“Freeze! Police!” Officer Bryan jumped to his feet, pointed a NERF gun that Jack had given him at the boys. 

Gavin yelped in surprise and fear. Michel wasted no time in aiming his gun at the visiting officer. Bryan dodged the first three shots, slowly advancing on the boys as he recited the Miranda rights. 

“Hey Michael, these might help.” Ryan suggested, throwing some small discs towards the boys. 

“Sticky bombs!” Michael grinned gleefully. He attached them to the teachers desk, grabbed Gavins hand and ran the opposite direction as he detonated the bombs.

Naturally, Ryan hadn’t given the children actual bombs. He had specially rigged these ones so that instead of a fiery explosion, powdered paint exploded out of the device. Bright pink paint powder covered Officer Bryan and Michael used the confusion to hide under the nearest desk.

“To win the heist, all three of you have to be back at your desks with the candy.” Jack announced, handing out the rest of the NERF guns to the class. “From this point on, everyone in the class is a police officer. If you get hit anyway with a fake bullet, you have to play dead. Okay?”

“That’s not fair!” Gavin yelped. 

“Good thing you have a get away vehicle.” Ryan commented, pushing a skateboard towards the boys.

Michael grinned, keeping on hand tightly on Gavin. “Let’s go!” Michael jumped onto the skateboard and Gavin clung to his waist with one hand and used his gun with the other.

As the other students jumped up at the chance to be police officers, Ray started sniping them. Geoff watched, mightily impressed, as Ray didn’t miss a single shot. 

“Ray get down!” Gavin yelled as they got close to their seats. “We have to sit down together to win!”

“How?!” 

Ryan slid a crash mat in front of the cabinet. 

Ray, trusting Ryan completely, abandoned his perch and jumped onto the mat. “Oof!” He exhaled as the mat totally cushioned his fall. 

Michael cheered as they reached their seats untouched by their peers.”Candy for everyone!” He proclaimed as he reached into Gavin’s bag and started throwing candy.

Jack laughed. “Okay. Who wants to try next?”  
\---

When the teacher returned from her meeting, the class was a total mess. The tables and chairs had been upturned into make shift barricades. The furniture and her students (as well as the other visiting parents) were covered in multicoloured powder paint. The floor was covered in candy wrappers and her students were incredibly hyper. 

“Well.” Geoff clapped his hands together. “Thank you for having us. It was a pleasure but now we really must be going to our next appointment.” He stated, walking past the teacher and out of the door.

After a few tense moments of silence, he walked back in laughing. “I’m just kidding, obviously we’re going to help tidy up. Ryan, find me a broom.”

Geoff and Jack weren’t invited to any more career days after that. But the students all agreed that it was the best presentation they had ever seen.


	100. The Anniversary: Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy 100th chapter!  
> This is going to be quite a long story line, split up over lots of chapters (I only have limited time to write and I'd rather post little bits as I go instead of posting a massive one in a months time or something!)

It had been exactly a year since Geoff took Gavin in, the start of their little family, and Geoff wanted to do something big to celebrate all of the boys coming into his life. So he took it upon himself to plan a party.

Step one was simple: Pick the lads up from school.

However, Geoff had decided that he wanted to look good for the party and had decided to shave off his trademark handlebar moustache to be clean shaven for the event. He hadn’t expected this to completely confuse the little lads he was picking up. 

“Who the fuck are you?” Michael asked suspiciously as Geoff approached them.

“…I-… I’m Geoff?” He responded, suspecting that the lads were playing some kind of game.

“Nu-uh!” Gavin responded, hiding behind Michael.

“Geoff has a big fluffy moustache.” Ray pointed out. 

“I shaved it off!”

“How do we know your not some guy just claiming to be Geoff?” Michael asked, folding his arms across his chest.

“Or a robot!” Gavin chimed in, peeking over Michaels shoulder.

“Or a robot.” Michael nodded.

Geoff laughed. “It’s me, I promise.” As frustrating as it was, he was glad to see that the boys wouldn’t willingly leave with anyone they thought was a stranger.

“Prove it!” Ray challenged.

“Okay….” Geoff paused, trying to think of something that only he would know.“Your actual surnames are Jones, Free, and we’re not too sure of Rays. But now you’re all Ramsey because you’re my kids.”

“Checks out.” Michael nodded, a serious expression on his face. “Did you bring snacks?” 

Geoff rolled his eyes and passed out the chocolate bars he had stashed in his bag. “Now come on, I’ve got a big evening planned.”


	101. The Anniversary Part Two

Geoff lead the boys home, stopping before they entered the building that housed the penthouse. Jack and Ryan were stood at the entrance, each holding onto a bunch of green balloons. 

“…I was excited for the big reveal, but I have to ask. Ryan, what the fuck happened to your hair??” Geoff asked with wide eyes.

“Shut up.” Ryan avoided eye contact, attempting to cover his now dark blue hair with his free hand. “It was for a modelling thing.”

Geoff gasped. “You still do that?!” 

“Just this last one! They were desperate for models and offered me a lot of money.”

“Maybe we should just give up on our life of crime and become Ryan’s managers?” Jack suggested with a chuckle. 

Geoff gasped dramatically, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

“No.” Ryan shot him down before he could say anything.

“What’s up with the balloons?” Michael asked. 

“We’re going to play a game.” Geoff grinned as his attention was pulled away from Ryans hair.

“What sort of game?” Ray asked. “Why are we still outside?” 

“It’s a treasure hunt!” Geoff announced. “You guys are going to get clues, and you have to go to the places that the clue hints at. Got it?”

“No.” The boys replied in unison.

“Ryan will help you if you need it. He’ll be with you the entire time to make sure you don’t get lost.” 

Or kidnapped. But Geoff wasn’t going to tell them that part. 

“Here’s your first clue.” Jack bent down and passed the boys a piece of paper. 

Find where the artful dodger picked the pocket.

And look for the girl with a golden locket.

“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Michael.” Jack chastised, holding her hand out. 

Michael huffed and passed Jack a nickle for the swear jar.

“I know this one!!” Gavin squeaked excitedly. “It’s this way!” He grabbed his brothers hands and started leading them away from the apartment block. 

Ryan waved to Geoff and Jack as he started to follow them. “Have fun setting things up.”

“Don’t get into too much trouble!” Geoff called after them.

Ryan laughed. “No promises.”


	102. Fourth Of July

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I did post this on tumblr on the 4th July. Just a tad late getting it on here though

Geoff had been waiting for this all year. Fourth of July had always been his favourite holiday as a kid. It was one of few times in the year that his fathers excessive drinking actually seemed normal. Most of his good childhood memories revolved around having a barbaque near a lake and watching the fireworks at night. He couldn’t wait to share that experience with the lads.

He drove the whole family into the mountains and luckily found a picnic spot overlooking a small lake. It was private, secluded and totally perfect for their big day.

Ryan and Jack has worked hard during the morning to make a massive picnic and bbq that the lads quickly devoured. Geoff suspected that the time that the lads had spent homeless had taught them to eat as much as they could before it was taken away from them. He avoided the subject but always made sure that the lads had more than enough to eat.

As the sun started to set, Geoff draped a blanket on the roof of his car and sat the boys on it.

“What are we doing?” Ray asked.

“You’re not going to drive like this are you?” Michael asked suspiciously.

“Just wait and see.” Geoff smiled as a firework streamed through the sky.

Gavin froze at the noise, covering his eyes. “What the chuff was that?!” He squeaked.

“It’s okay.” Jack quickly moved to stand next to Gavin, wrapping an arm around him. “It’s a firework.”

Michael frowned. “You don’t have fireworks in England?”

“Of course we do!” Gavin replied indignantly. “This is just a real weird time for them, that’s all.” Gavin started to relax, looking up at the sky as the colours exploded.

“It’s Fourth of July, buddy.” Geoff raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t your teachers tell you about Independance Day?”

“They probably assume all the kids know about it by this age.” Ryan explained.

“You don’t have that in England?” Ray asked.

Ryan chuckled. “We’re celebrating independence from the British. I don’t think they’d celebrate that in England.”

“So you don’t get any fireworks? That sucks for you.” Michael shook his head seriously.

“We have Bonfire Night!” Gavin protested.

Michael wrinkled his nose. “Is that a dumb British name for Fourth of July?”

Ryan shook his head. “Pretty sure it’s in November.”

“Remember, Remember! The Fifth Of November!” Gavin recited gleefully. “Gunpowder treason and plot.”

Ryan took a swig from his Diet Coke. “It’s their version of a fuck-the-government fireworks celebration.”

“Swear jar.” Jack put out a hand expextantly.

Ryan rolled his eyes but passed Jack a dollar regardless.

“Do you have sparklers?” Gavin asked, eyes lighting up.

“Well, You ruined the surprise, but I certainly do.” Geoff grinned as he produced sparklers for the boys.

Ryan took out a lighter from his pocket and lit them. “Don’t burn anyone.”

“Mwuhahahaha!” Michael laughed manically as he was handed a sparkler, immediately chasing Gavin with it. “This is how we do it in America. Bitch!”


	103. Tiny Dancer

The only thing good about being off sick from school was the telly. Gavin had a terrible cold and had to stay home all day while Michael and Ray went to school.

Normally Gavin loved being off school, but not when it meant being alone most of the day. 

So Gavin, bundled up in all the blankets he could find, put on the first movie channel he found and watched whatever came on.

After a few hours of dozing through a Transformers film, a movie about a ballerina started to play. Normally Gavin would turn this kind of film off right away, but he didn’t really have the energy to grab the remote so decided just to leave it on. After ten minutes, his eyes were glued to the screen. Gavin had never seen people move so gracefully. It was beautiful.

He was starting to feel better by the end of the film and jumped off the couch to try some of the moves he had seen. Just like when he and Michael would re-create the fights from Star Wars.

Gavin was having so much fun dancing to the credits music that he hadn’t noticed the front door open.

“You must be feeling better.” Ryan noted, a small smirk on his lips.

Gavin went beetroot red and quickly jumped back on the couch, hiding himself under a mountain of blankets.

“What’s up?” Ryan asked, shutting the door and moving to sit next to Gavin. 

“Please don’t tell Micoo!” Gavin squeaked. “I don’t want him to think I’m girly.”

“Whats wrong with being girly?” Ryan asked. “Jack’s girly sometimes. Do we make fun of Jack?”

“No... but I’m not like Jack!”

Ryan though for a moment before digging his phone out. He soon found his mothers Facebook page, where she had countless albums dedicated to his childhood photos. “So when I was your age, my mother had these big dreams about me becoming a Broadway star. So she enrolled me in dance classes.” He explained, showing Gavin a picture of him in tights and a leotard. “I went to classes for about five years and did a ton of competitions. If you want to dance, it’s not a big deal.”

“Oh.... I think.... I still don’t want to tell Micoo or Ray just yet.”

“That’s fine. We have a couple of hours before they come home. Want to watch one of my favourite movies?”

“...Sure?”

Ryan smiled knowingly and put on ‘Singing in the Rain.’ By the time ‘Make ‘em laugh” started to play, Gavin was in fits of giggles and had completely forgotten about his embarrassment.


	104. Comfort

In the early days, Geoff was surprised by just how affectionate the lads were. 

They tended to avoid contact with him and Jack, which was understandable given how terribly their previous relationships with adults had gone. But between each other, the lads would quite often hold hands or lie on each other when they were relaxing.

Ryan was in a weird middle ground. Not quite a child, not quite an adult yet.

Geoff noticed that the more time they spent with Ryan, the more affectionate they became with him. It started with Gavin holding his hand while crossing the road. Then Ray leaning on him while he played his game. And soon after Michael fell asleep on his lap while they watched TV together (Geoff had to hold back tears when he saw that one). 

Gavin and Michael were definitely the most affectionate of the bunch. Possibly making up for the time they had spent alone or in cold households.

One day, when picking them up from school, Geoff watches Gavin fall and graze his knee. Before Geoff could make his way over, Michael had pulled the boy into a hug to comfort him. The sweet moment was quickly ruined when a classmate teased them for being “girly” and Michael jumped up to break his nose.

Geoff was incredibly proud of their progress and looked forward to the day that they would trust him and Jack as much.


	105. Doomsday

“Hey Ry, is the world ending?” Ray asked him in a casual tone. 

“….Not that I’m aware. But I might have missed a memo.” Ryan put his book down to give Ray his full attention. “What makes you ask that?”

“The sky is broken or something. That normally means the world is ending.”

“…Alright, you’ve piqued my interst.” Ryan stood up and followed Ray into the sitting room where giant windows overlooked the city.

“See?” Ray gestured.

“Not really…? Looks normal.”

“What’s all that white stuff then?” Ray retorted, aggravation slipping into his voice. 

“…Ray that’s snow.” Ryan explained. 

Ray gave Ryan a blank expression.

“Like….. rain but solid and colder.”

“…So the world isn’t ending?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Damn.” Ray muttered under his breath. 

“You’ve never seen snow?”

“I might have? But I don’t remember anything so….”

“That’s right.” Ryan nodded, he often forgot that Rays oldest memory was only a month or so before they met. “Don’t worry, this is normal for winter. You can go out and play in it if you want?”

Ray took another look outside. “… I’ll be in my room.” He stated as he headed back to the room he shared with Michael and Gavin.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [After all](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11677854) by [Cfae8](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cfae8/pseuds/Cfae8)
  * [We Could Have Had It All](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13538523) by [LadyArya2014](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyArya2014/pseuds/LadyArya2014)
  * [Welcome Aboard](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13708002) by [SeaMonkeysInSpace](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeaMonkeysInSpace/pseuds/SeaMonkeysInSpace)




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